# High Elves versus Warriors of Chaos



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

Hey guys. I've just completed another decent game against a buddy of mine at our local shop. It wasn't too bad of a game, especially since I haven't played in a couple weeks, and far longer since I last played my High Elves.

Here's the lists:

*Me*

*-Characters-*

High Elf Prince
-Star Dragon
-Armor of Caledor
-Vambraces of Defense

High Elf Noble
-Guardian Phoenix
-Great Weapon
-Dragon Armor
-Helm of Fortune

High Elf Mage
-2x Dispel Scroll
-Level 2

*-Core-*

15 Spear Elves
-Full Command

10 Archers
-Vanilla, baby!

*-Special-*

15 Phoenix Guard
-Full Command
-Banner of Sorcery

7 Sword Masters of Hoeth

7 Sword Masters of Hoeth

Lion Chariot of Chrace

5 Dragon Princes of Caledor

*-Rare-*

2x Repeater Bolt Throwers



Gallan

*-Characters-*

Valkia the Bloody

Wulfrik the Wanderer

Sorcerer
-Level 2
-Mark of Slaanesh

Sorcerer
-Level 2
-Mark of Tzeentch

*-Core-*

Chaos Warriors
-Full Command
-Unknown Number
-Mark of Tzeentch
-Shields

Marauders
-Full Command
-Light Armor, Sword-n-Board!!
-Mark of Khorne
-This is where Wulfrik went

5 Marauder Horsemen
-Mark of Khorne
-Light Armor

*-Special-*

4 Dragon Ogres
-Champion
-Great Weapons

10 or 15 Chosen
-I can't recall...

*-Rare-*

Chaos Warshrine



Terrain was simple. We like to have a large variety of things, just for kicks. There was mostly just hills and impassable terrain, with emphasis on the center of the table. Nothing special here.

I'm going to use my standard Yellow Green here to demarcate exactly where I'm editing this thing. I'm just going to go into further detail here, just for everyone's clarity, including my own! 

Okay, we went with some difficult terrain on my right hand side, right by his deployment zone. There were two hills, each were about center in our deployment zones, so one in each zone. I had a hill and impassable terrain combo on my left side. There was also some impassable on my left, toward his deployment zone.

He got first deploy and turn. Again, we focused on taking the center.

His deploy was as such:
-Marauder Horsemen on his right flank (so my left), with his Chosen and Warriors holding the middle, and bulked up by his Dragon Ogres on his near right and the Warshrine.

The War Shrine was right behind the Dragon Ogres. That proved to be a nasty combo! If you guys play WoC, you might want to consider it. I think even Vaz would be impressed with how nasty the EotG roles made them!

-Valkia went on his far left flank, while Wulfrik snuck around...

Valkia was ready to dive into the difficult terrain, away from my ranged and magical attacks. I knew he was going to go War Machine hunting with her. I just wish my Dragon and Prince stopped her...

My deploy:

-My Dragon Princes and Lion Chariot on my left flank (opposite his Marauder Horsemen), aiming for the center. Nasty, right?

Really, that was too much over there. I was forced to funnel my nastiest forces between some poor terrain, rendering their speed useless. If I were smarter in their positioning, I may have toppled the center faster!

-My Spear Elves were flanked by Sword Masters and Phoenix Guard in the center.

It should have been my PG in the center, flanked by the Spear Elves. Oh well, my PG did great where they were. The big problem with them, though, is that they have a hard time breaking through that nasty Chaos Armor. They can take any kind of beating, though. They even stood up to the nastiest Chaos spells with dignity! My Spears and Sword Masters just couldn't outclass the Warriors and Chosen, though...

-RBTs were on the left and right of my center, with my Archers near the right RBT.

I still like the setup for these guys, it's just that they were rather unsupported. Really, though, they were so few VPs that it really didn't matter.

-Dragon went behind the center, ready to decimate the Dragon Ogres.

I should have made him a bit harder for his mages to see the whole game. That would have allowed me to decimate EVERYTHING on the board with ease. I will never doubt a Prince on a Star Dragon ever again... Too bad it's pure cheese.

-Mage was solo.

Against WoC, this seemed okay. The only threat was the Marauder Horsemen. Their speed was trumped by other means, though. Still, he was well protected anyway.

-Noble went with Phoenix Guard to give them some killing power.

I'm really glad I went with that combo. It really helped topple the War Shrine, but my PG were left stranded for most of the game since.

*Turn 1*

He sent his troops forward. Nothing special, just everyone marched forward. The Marauder Horsemen moved away from my Dragon Princes and Lion Chariot for obvious reasons. Valkia went around some cover to take down my right flank, namely my RBT and Archers.

His Warriors and Chosen were ready to take a charge from my SM and Spear Elves. I should have really bulked up this combat, but I was missing my heaviest hitters - the Dragon Princes and the Lion Chariot.

His magic was stopped by early use of Dispel Scrolls. That may not have been such a good idea.

Here's where it would have been nice to have another mage on the table. If only for another scroll, it could have really helped me out later in the game. I should have let some of it go through, just so I had a scroll left for later.

He had no shooting.

No combat for him. My side.

I sent my Dragon Princes and Lion Chariot up, ready for the nasty Combo-Charge. My Phoenix Guard moved up, while my Sword Masters and Spear Elves went forward and right to deal with his right side of the central forces. I left Valkia alone, since she wouldn't accomplish enough too fast where she was.

Again, I sent way too much in to take down the Dragon Ogres. I know they're nasty, but I had a unit of 7 Sword Masters, a Lion Chariot, and a unit of 5 Dragon Princes ready to hit them hard. Too much here, too little elsewhere.

My magic wasn't anything fancy. I had Lore of Heavens, since I like the ability to get re-rolls, something I need desperately!  . Well, I didn't get anything off; Lightning Bolt was shot down, while my re-roll was denied.

Again, another mage would have helped big time!

My shooting saw nothing special. I used my Archers to whittle down his Marauder Horsemen. RBTs missed both single shots. I think I should have stuck with multi-fire for both. That would have been the safer bet. Too bad I wasn't rolling too well just yet...

Curse of Arrow Attraction would have solved all my problems... Sigh. Plus, I could have taken down Valkia with a decent roll. That's the dice talking, though, so I can't complain too much there. There were also some other, juicier targets on the board. I should have been smarter with my shooting!

No Combat yet.

*Turn 2*

He Moved his units up further. Seeing the nasty setup his Dragon Ogres were facing, he left them to their own demise. The rest of the force focused on my Right Flank.
Wulfrik managed to show up though, and landed on my Left Flank. That screwed me up, big time.

I should have just left them there. They would have been left chasing my Dragon Princes and Lion Chariot around. And with Wulfrik there, the only units that could have taken them out cleanly would be the Prince and Star Dragon and my Sword Masters. So, note to self: Leave them alone if they're that far back!

At this point, my right flank was ready to crumple. This is where it was really, really hurting to place all my heavy units on the left flank. Even a unit of Sword Masters could have held off Valkia just long enough, maybe.

He did charge my Sword Masters, though, as well as an RBT crew. They held ground.
Valkia also charged my RBT on my right.

The Dragon Ogres did beat my Sword Masters in combat, sending them running into impassable terrain. I should have advanced them outward with the Dragon Princes hitting their flank. The Chariot may have been useful elsewhere, maybe.

His Magic wasn't anything special. He failed to cast a few times, and that's it.

With such little magic defense, I got lucky. Seeing a theme here, folks? Chaos magic is bad news!

He used the 2D6 S1 thing. Bloodcurdling Roar? Yeah, that's it. He took down a few Spear Elves with some nice rolling.

That hurt, since that meant fewer attacks against the Warriors ahead of my Spear Elves. Granted, sending in the Spear Elves to them was a bad idea to begin with anyway.

The RBT crew didn't do much. They are admitted pacifists. The went home after skinning a knee.
My Sword Masters performed dismally. They pulled out two wounds with 14 attacks. Not enough. The Dragon Ogres took down 5 of them. My Elves decided to go home for some tea, and headed out. The Dragon Ogres escorted them a short ways, but decided to wait for the Dragon to join them...

Valkia sent the RBT crew home after having an awkward conversation. She decided the Archers would provide better company instead.

Here's where Valkia takes down my Right Flank. She took out my right RBT, then crashed into my Archers. Meanwhile, the Dragon Ogres beat my Sword Masters in combat and sent them running.

My turn. I send forth all legions into the Dragon Ogres. My Dragon and my Lion Chariot. Phoenix Guard managed to take the fight to the Warshrine, while the other Sword Masters and the Spear Elves take the fight to the Warriors and Chosen.Not a good idea, really.

Again, too many points into taking out the Dragon Ogres. 700+ points! I made a series of bad decisions here...

Magic saw nothing happen again. No miscasts, at least!

Shooting was shut down, thanks to Valkia and the Dragon Ogres. They're quite the entertainers.:music:

Combat wasn't too bad. 
-The Dragon dined in Hell, and they were serving Dragon Ogres en masse. After filling up on two Dragon Ogres, the Prince did his fair share, taking down an Ogre by himself.
The Chariot finished another. No more Dragon Ogres!
-Phoenix Guard took down the Warshrine with ease.
-The Sword Masters and Spear Elves bowed out, thanks to trouble at home. Bad Dice Roles may be the actual culprit, or my bad spirit...

Here's where I'm happy to have had the Star Dragon! It alone send the Dragon Ogres packing. The Chariot didn't do much, and it was dumb to send it against S7 Dragon Ogres...

The Noble with the Phoenix Guard was amazing! They destroyed the War Shrine with ease; they ran it down, while it only had one wound left.

The Sword Masters and Spear Elves combo charged the Warriors and Chosen. That was bad, since it split up my attacks between two units. Thankfully, I had to champions there to get slaughtered. If I had, though, the Talisman of Loec would have been fielded. That would have wiped the smile off my opponent's face as I would have diced his casters to bits!

*Turn 3*

With my right flank gone, the remaining opposing forces held their ground, ready to counter-charge my counter-attacks. He couldn't charge anything, not even my Dragon Princes, so just got ready. He tried to steer clear of my angered dragon, however.

My units, at this point, were thrown around the table. That really hurt me. My Phoenix Guard spent the rest of the game by themselves, with my lone Mage nearby.

My Lion Chariot was left as a sitting duck for Valkia to charge into. That was a bad, bad decision. That was the Punch I needed in combat to break his lines. At least I still had my Prince and Dragon, with Noble and Phoenix Guard. I had to regroup them, fast!

He did manage to cast the Slaanesh spell that made my Dragon want to move to a point on the Table. That essentially sealed the game for me. If it weren't for that, I would have been able to send my Phoenix Guard and my Dragon into his Warriors; Once I would have cleared them, his Chosen would have been destroyed too. Alas, it wasn't to be.
He also made my Phoenix Guard bicker with Treason of Tzeentch, so they did some damage to themselves. Nothing serious.

See what I mean??!!

No Shooting.

No combat.

My Side. I charged my Dragon Princes into his Marauders with Wulfrik. That was a bad idea, really. Other than that, I regrouped my Mage and my Phoenix Guard.

Ugh. Wulfrik ate up my Dragon Princes. If they just tagged up with my Phoenix Guard, I would have been able to do quite well against his Warriors and Chosen, each with a Sorcerer. The Marauders and Wulfrik would have spent the rest of the game walking around like Frodo and Sam.

Magic was shut down, too. I just stopped the Go-This-Way spell.

At this point, it didn't matter. I know it's pessimistic to say it, but a Prince on a Star Dragon and some Phoenix Guard probably wouldn't have cut it against 15 Warriors of Chaos, 10 Chosen, and two mages. Well, if things went the way I had intended, without me dividing my forces, that would have been totally different! My big grief was that I had no more Static Combat resolution, and my PG just wouldn't fill the gap.

No more shooting.

My Dragon Princes took down 7 of his Marauders, but that didn't seal the deal. Wulfrik must have told a joke to make three Dragon Princes fall off their saddles with laughter. It was a good time, so my Dragon Princes stuck around.

Again, I should have just left these guys alone. They came in on a bad spot anyway.

*Turn 4*

Valkia decided to take down my Lion Chariot. Apparently she's not a fan of kitties.

What, S8 on the charge? That did the trick to the Chariot. Again, that would have helped against the Warriors and Chosen, or at least with getting a charge against her.

Magic saw nothing happen here. He failed to cast his spells.

No shooting.

-The Lion Chariot was deemed unusable after the Lions went into heat. Note to self: use male lions next time.
-Laughter must be truly contagious. The last two Dragon Princes laughed themselves off the table.

The Marauders tickled my Dragon Princes to death, S3 hits that failed the Armor Saves. That hurt! At least now I know not to sweat the small stuff like a lonely unit in the backfield. For you gun-line players or castlers, you would be wise to worry about them. As for my tactics, it just didn't help. I wanted to press full forward, not worry about what was left behind (unless some of my units fled from combat).

My side.

I continued to regroup. I got my Phoenix Guard ready to receive a charge from Valkia, with the Dragon in support. My Mage was safely behind.

As is, I was set and ready to go. He asked if I wanted to concede defeat, but I decided to just see where things went.

Magic was shut down once again. I really should have just used a level 1.

Scroll caddies should usually be Lvl1 to save on some points. If you make them Lvl2, you're usually banking on some kind of other magic support. For 2000pts and up, you should probably use more than just a sing scroll caddy. Maybe a Lvl1 Scroll Caddy and a Lvl2. That would probably yield some offensive capabilities, and some better chances at quelling your opponent's magic.

No shooting.

No combat.

*Turn 5*

Valkia decided to weasel around my battle line, and threatened my mage. The rest of his forces were readied to receive charges.

Now my mage was threatened. I had a choice: Sacrifice the mage, or hide the mage and open up a rear charge against my Dragon and Phoenix Guard. Either option was bad. I probably would have sacrificed the mage, though, just so I could stand a chance at taking down the rest of the units in peace and hopefully run them down.

The Dragon was lured away from the group with magic. Since the center was left, there wasn't much stopping the Chaos' advance.

Warriors of Chaos players: Don't discount Mark of Slaanesh on your casters! If you've read this far, you can see what kind of damage it can do to a solid line. It really helps for prolonged games, and seems to be fairly consistent. Tzeentch magic can fluctuate quite a bit (d6+1 hits at d6+1 Strength...), but Slaanesh usually has effects that always happen (no marching...).

It was at this point that the game was called, since I only had a few Phoenix Guard with a noble left, defending a mage. They were surrounded on all fronts, and without the insurmountable dragon, held little chance in winning. We settled for a Minor Loss for the High Elves at that point, consider the Dragon would have made up for a lot of points, as would the Phoenix Guard and Noble. Plus, we wanted to get some other games in.

Time was also a factor, but I now really want to know what I could have done with this. My dragon was lured past the Warriors, meaning it was behind them. If I were to get out of the spell, I may have managed to rear-charged the Warriors. Oh well.

All in all, I'm happy with my strategies. I sought to destroy the Dragon Ogres, and carry through. From there, I wanted to hold the center with Sword Masters and Spear Elves, but they fluffed their attacks.

My mistakes were:
-Sending just a unit of Sword Masters and a unit of Spear Elves into a unit of Chosen and a unit of Warriors. That didn't work well at all. Sure, I fluffed their attacks, but that just wasn't that great.
-Worrying about the Marauders at my back. By the next turn, the rest of my forces were about 20" away. That would have saved me my Dragon Princes, and Heaven only knows how they would have helped everything else.
-Bad dice rolls!!
-Elves laughing off their saddles. I failed 4 different 2+ saves. Sigh.
-Tea time for Sword Masters. Seriously, it's an addiction.
-Maybe some more magic.
-I should really, really have brought in some White Lions. That would have been lovely.


----------



## squeek (Jun 8, 2008)

Nice report!  I know it sometimes isn't much fun losing, particularly if you know that it was due to your mistakes, but I quite like these games occasionally as they teach you much more than an easy win.

If you could have re-match, apart from white lions, would you change anything else?


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

Honestly, I couldn't say what I would really change. I mean, I did fluff a LOT of attacks, but that hardly changes the fact that in a few situations I was out-classed by the Chaos Warriors.

I do wish I had some better Magic support, so I guess that's worth mentioning. Warriors of Chaos do have some really, really nasty magic, and stopping some of the more crucial spells would have really been nice. Making my Dragon run away from my last remnants? I'm pretty sure that sealed the deal, divide-and-conquer and all.

It was a fun game, too, make no mistake. I think I could get to like going against WoC. It seems like a strong army, but not overpowering. It does take some serious thought to figure out how best to combat the Chaos Warriors, though. Those guys are brutal!
My opponent and I laughed at how abysmally bad my roles were, too. Dragon Princes dropping to S3 attacks? Ouch!:biggrin:


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

Updated my stuff. I may or may not open up an Army Thread on my antics. I'm thinking about including how I dealt with things, how I should have dealt with things, and what my opponent did and should have done, too. Plus, some pictures of what I've painted thus far and what-not. Stay tuned, all.


----------

