# Ascendant Valor's High Elf Log



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

Hey guys.

This is just an experimental prototype. I want to have a place to toss in all the information pertinent to my High Elf army. You know, pictures of it, battle reports, tactica, and so forth.

I know I like to get long winded at times, and at other times I don't say enough; hopefully I can be brief yet succinct, intelligent yet not have my head stuffed up my arse.

Without further ado, I'd like to open up with my favorite model thus far:










This is Telynius. As a High Elf noble, he is charged with a small battle force. It is the goal of this battle force to supplement Ulthuan wherever it is needed.

I know my painting skills aren't admirable, but I think it's not too bad considering this is one of the first actual models I tried to paint. The white desperately needs another coat or two, though! I like keeping the eyes white. I think it gives some depth to the Elves, and makes them appear less Human.

Now that I recall, though, this picture is old. I have since laid in another coat of paint and some wash to the face. The eyes don't stand out quite so much.

To all others unsure of their painting abilities:
-Take Heart! It's not so bad once you start to try it out. 
-Remember to thin your paints and TAKE YOUR TIME! 
-Start out with some run-of-the-mill guys, get the hang of things, and move up from there. 
-Start slow, too. I hate having my entire High Elf force (over 5500pts) right in front of me when I paint... it just makes things that much more daunting. Just pick a few models, and start applying some coats to them. Figure out a paint scheme all the while, too.


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

Double Post for the win!

I'm just going to truncate this thread for the viewer's aid. I think it helps provide a sort of rhythm to the reading.

Here's my favorite Army List thus far:
[Anything within Parenthesis is the typical name of the appropriate item. I want to create my own named items, just to fit the fluff of the list.]

*Characters*

Lord Telyrus (High Elf Prince)
-Gynrauch (Star Dragon)
-(Armor of Caledor)
-(Vambraces of Defense)
-(Sword of Might, or Great Weapon/Halberd)

Last game, this guy was amazing for me. I just don't know how to incorporate a Dragon very effectively yet. Even then, it did wonders!

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

So far, Telynius has yet to let me down (except for the not-so-fantastic paint scheme!). He packs a punch and can take a beating.

Astrial Starweaver (High Elf Mage)
-Level 2
-(2x Dispel Scroll)

This is something I'm not familiar with at all: no magic support. I know I typically criticize people for using a Level 2 scroll caddy, but I feel it's nice to have some chance of getting a decent spell off with three dice. I think I'll be changing this, though; I haven't seen much success from him yet.

*Core*

Spear Elves x15
-Full Command

Despite being constantly put up against T4 and high-AS opponents, they do work well for me.

Archers x10
-Naked

Very minimalist, they usually sit on hills by my RBTs, acting as a Guarding unit for them should some hunters get too close. Granted, at that point my War Machines won't matter, but it's just a thing of personal comfort.


*Special*

Phoenix Guard x15
-Full Command
-(Banner of Sorcery)

In all my games thus far, these guys have yet to let me down. Through the nastiest magic to the worst hits, they stand resolute. I think one unit is enough, though. As much as I love having these guys around, they don't hit hard enough for my liking. At least not without a character.

Sword Masters of Hoeth x8

These guys may get dropped for a unit of White Lions. Last game, I really could have used the higher strength and Stubborn. The missile protection would be nice, too.

Sword Masters of Hoeth x7

Same as above!

Lion Chariot of Chrace

Kitty Kart, away! These guys are hit or miss for me, but I can't stop loving having it around just in case. Combined with the Dragon Princes, they maul just about anything with S5 attacks up the Yangtze river!

Dragon Princes of Caledor x5

I personally don't like to have too much cavalry, but these guys are nice to have around. Too bad I'm terrible at making 2+ Armor Saves... :shok:


*Rare*

Repeater Bolt Thrower x2

I love RBTs. They're so universally useful that it's disgusting. Honestly, if I had the models I would use more. But then again, I'd like to try out some Eagles.


I think I'll want to add in some White Lions, since I really missed their punch last time. I may replace the Sword Masters with them.

The idea is that this is an expeditionary force, sent by the Phoenix King to re-establish long-lost ties to the Old World. Ulthuan's current state of affairs would leave it vulnerable to a long-lasting campaign, and the rest of the Old World would benefit from their mastery of the Winds of Magic.


My goal is to get this whole force painted by the end of summer. That should be easy enough, despite the fact that I take my time with painting:biggrin:.


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

Hey folks.

Since I haven't finished painting any of my army yet (though I have been tossing down some base layers and whatnot), and since my camera's batteries are depleted, I have no pictures to offer up. Sad face...:cray:

I guess this wouldn't be a bad time to talk about some High Elf tactics, then, right?

Let's talk about my favorite unit: Phoenix Guard.

*Introduction to the Phoenix Guard*

These guys epitomize staying power in the High Elf army. Just about no matter what you throw at them, they have a 50% chance of shrugging it off (thanks to their beefy 4+ Ward Save). Not to mention they cause Fear, making them nasty in the rare chance that they outnumber their opponents, or just a hassle in general. A solid WS, I, and Ld make them just plain nasty. 

Their drawback is their inability to pump out the damage. Unlike White Lions or Sword Masters, the Phoenix Guard can only dish out a single S4 attack a turn. That's nothing to shrug at, but compared to the others, it's a significant decrease.

Combine the advantages and disadvantages, and you can see why everyone hails the Phoenix Guard as being a staple Anvil unit (within the "Hammer and Anvil" strategy). They have the capacity to hold off ANY enemy unit long enough to allow another unit to smash into the enemy's flanks, and won't have suffered many casualties all the while.

*Using the Phoenix Guard*

Let me make a quick note here: This article is on how _I_ would use the Phoenix Guard. Remember that these guys are fairly versatile, and by no means is my way the only way to use them, or even the right way!:clapping:

When deploying the Phoenix Guard, you should consider their role within your army. Odds are, they will continue to hold their position as a Defensive unit in support of other offensive units. 

With that in mind, it's usually best to keep them near your center, or across from one of your enemy's units that you need to hold up and Combo-attack.
On either side, you may want to throw down your more offensive units, like some White Lions or Sword Masters, nearby in a supporting position. That way, you'll get your Counter-Charge when you need it.










Here, the Sword Masters are ready to support the Phoenix Guard. Since the Phoenix Guard are a tad bit forward of the Sword Masters, it'll be just that much harder for your opponent to charge your Sword Masters (not that they might want to anyway, but I hope you guys get my idea).


Alternatively, you could use the Phoenix Guard as one of a few other things:
-Mage Bunker
-Flank Holder
-Hammer Unit
-Death Star Unit (you didn't hear this from me!)

Phoenix Guard make great Mage Bunkers. A unit of 5-10 without a command will cost relatively few points, will outlast most opponents, and can heartily cover your mage(s). You can even give that very unit the Banner of Sorcery (all your eggs in one basket...:stop and let it be a complete Magic Bunker.

As flank holders, Phoenix Guard can be deployed in small units here too. They cause Fear, so should ward away a lot of any flank-harassers, namely basic Fast Cavalry. Plus, if they do get charged, they'll likely hold up the units long enough to let the rest of your forces do their jobs. Unfortunately, fliers will provide their usual headaches, and Phoenix Guard are simply too expensive to just be flown over...

Phoenix Guard can be a hammer unit. Granted, they're far better as an Anvil unit, they do dish out decent damage with a Combat Hero mixed in with their ranks. If you're worried about your Sword Masters or Phoenix Guard being Magic'd off the table by Orc and Goblin magic, these guys often fit the bill!

As a Death Star unit, they can pack a punch. Put Korhil, a Banner of the World Dragon BSB, and maybe another character in their, and they're solid. Nuff said.

*Deploying*

Going off the above, once you define what role you want the Phoenix Guard to carry, you have to actually deploy them on the table.

If you need the PG to defend something, keep their unit size small, and keep them within range of their target. If their target is within the unit (a mage, perhaps), then keep their unit size small and keep them within support range of your main force, but somewhat remote from it so they won't get engaged in a combat you don't want them in.
I had a 10-man unit of Phoenix Guard with Teclis get charged by some Dark Elf troops once. They overran into the Bunker and managed to do some solid damage. I fluffed the Armor and Ward saves, and they saw my units off the table in style!:ireful2:

Using your Phoenix Guard as an Anvil, just follow my sample image above, to some degree. Remember that you want to hit your opponent's flanks as fast as possible, but do remember that they may have more troops waiting to counter-charge your counter-charge. Complicated, but it happens!



Okay, that's all I can think of thus far. Let's go for a brief run-down:

Phoenix Guard
-Good at a lot of roles, but Great as an Anvil or Bunker
-Can take more than a fair share of damage
-Can't dish out the hurt as well...
-Deploy them wisely, and keep them with the rest of your forces (where applicable)

Hopefully I'll have a report within the next couple days on how well I did, using them to the capacities I've listed above.


----------



## squeek (Jun 8, 2008)

Interesting thread!  Would you consider reproducing your tactical bits from this thread in tactica form for all to see? We are always short on good tacticas, so I imagine it would be well received.


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

I can create a High Elf Tactica thread, if not just copy-and-paste what I have listed here, if that's what you mean Squeek.


----------



## squeek (Jun 8, 2008)

Pretty much mate, I think a good Tactica on High Elves would be a really good thing to have on the forums if you feel like you would want to do that.


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

Tactics Post up and running. Thanks for the idea, Squeek!

Anywho, I'll keep this setup going with battle reports and other such things. Should have an update by tomorrow or so.


----------



## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

The army is looking good to mek:

A lvl2 caddy is not that shabby when backed up by a Banner of Sorcery. Consider giving him a Silver Wand for a 3d spell. Will give you more flexibility.

Regarding the S/M elves I personally think youre playing them correctly. Id say that 9 is the sacred number for them. There are more then a few cav units that goes 6 wide or 4 bigguys wide which will allow all 9 S/M elves to do their nasty work. Key here tho is that, like you do, keep em few! S/M elves have huge killing potential. They dont need ranks, they kill the enemy and win combat that way and the wider the front, the more attacks and the more dead enemies And if someone spends alot of attention to 8ish S/M elves thats a gain too since its not very much points tied up in those units anyways:wink:

Ive had really good success with 2 9man S/M elves units myself. Against certain armies, Orcs springs quickly into my mind, its almost too good


----------



## TWormley (Dec 17, 2008)

this is a really interesting thread, I like your tactics with phoenix guard they make a lot of sense!


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

I know this is off topic (on my own thread, no less!), but I played a game as Warriors of Chaos against a Goblin army.

I have to say that Goblin armies are so far the funnest army type I have played against to date. They're so random yet gloriously lethal at times that I have to hand it to the little guys. They can pack a punch (granted, that punch can just as easily wind up in their own face!).

Anyways, here's a brief run-down of the lists:

*Me*

Exalted Champion
-Mark of Khorne
-Juggernaut
-Axe of Khorne
-Eye of the Gods

Sorcerer
-Mark of Nurgle
-Power Familiar
-Level 2

Sorcerer
-Mark of Tzeentch
-Blood of Tzeentch

15 Warriors
-Full Command
-Halberds, Shields
-Mark of Nurgle

15 Warriors
-Full Command
-Halberds, Shields
-Mark of Nurgle
-Banner of Rage

25 Chaos Marauders
-Full Command
-Mark of Khorne
-Great Weapons

5 Chaos Knights
-Full Command
-Kept with Exalted Champion

5 Chaos Knights
-Full Command

Chaos Warshrine
-Mark of Tzeentch



*Goblin Player*

Goblin Great Shaman

Goblin Shaman

Goblin Shaman

Goblin Hero
-Squig

30 Night Goblins
-Netters
-Fanatics
-Full Command

30 Night Goblins
-Netters
-Fanatics
-Full Command

30 Night Goblins
-Netters
-Fanatics
-Full Command

Squig Herd

Squig Herd

2 Trolls

10 Spider Riders
-Full Command

10 Spider Riders
-Full Command

Doom Diver

Rock Lobba



We set up terrain to create a strong, open center encircled by rough terrain. We wanted this to be an all-out brawl, and it most certainly was!!!









WoC in Red, OnG in Brown and Black

I focused my Warriors and Marauders in the Center, with my Knights on my right flank and my Warshrine behind my Infantry. My sorcerers went in my Warriors units, and my Hero went with a unit of Knights.

He got First Turn. He sent his units forward, simple as that. He put his Squigs (which I forgot to show in the diagram above...) and Spider Riders right in front of my Knights. 
His Magic put the "6's count as 1's" on one of my Warriors units. No big deal. He also did a wound to one of my Sorcerers. Everything else was dispelled or did not affect anything. 
His Shooting managed to take down a single Warrior. That was lame!
No Combat yet.

My Turn 1 was just as simple. I had to charge with my Khorne Character toward the Squigs, so I just sent the whole unit in. My other unit of Knights Charged the Spider Riders. 
My magic was the same as his. I took a wound on the Shaman that wounded my Sorcerer (vengeance!), and I don't recall anything else happening.
My Shooting saw my Warshrine buff my Warriors Champion. +1Ld, I think. Nothing special.
In combat, I wiped out the Squigs with the Hero, and got a roll on the EotG table. I got MR(3)! That saved me quite a bit later in the game. The other unit of Knights scared away the Spider Riders, who ran just out of reach.

Turn 2.
He rallied his Spider Riders. Animosity didn't hurt him too much. He sent is left-most unit of Spider Riders down into the lower-right there to harrass my flanks. The nearby unit of Night Goblins angled toward the center.
His magic was more of the same. He didn't take much down on my end.
His shooting was good this time, but my Armor Saves really helped.
No combat just yet, I do believe.

I moved within 8" of his Night Goblins, so big surprise when the fanatics came out! He only had one per unit, though, which seemed rather nice of him. The moron took down a couple Marauders, but they didn't seem to care, but another one was dangerously close.
Here, I don't think anything happened yet in the Magic Phase.
Shooting was more of the same.

Turn 3
The Spider Riders Charged my Knights in return. He moved even closer still, but chose to only send a unit of Squigs (again, I forgot to show these guys in the Diagram... they were just to the left of the central Goblin units) into my left-most Warriors unit. His Left-most units kept moving closer, though. They were still pretty far away, so they had to haul arse to get into combat!
His magic tried to do some damage, but again I stopped it with Dispel Dice or with High Toughness and Armor Saves.
His shooting, again, picked off a couple more Warriors.
In combat, I wiped out the Spider Riders and came dangerously close to his upper-left-most war machine (the Rock Lobba). The Squigs were wiped out, too, after they did some serious damage to my Warriors. Something like two or three down there.

I charged my Marauders into his central Goblin unit, avoiding running into the Fanatics. My Knights charged the Rock Lobbah, too. I managed to line up my right-most Warriors for a Counter Charge in the flank for next turn, but was denied because the trolls blocked the way. I positioned my left-most Warriors for a mondo-charge from his left-most Spider Riders and Night Goblins. My other Knights decided to line up for destroying the middle.
My magic was nuts. My Nurgle Sorcerer cast the #6 Spell from Lore of Nurgle, damaging all nearby units. I took out a decent number of his units with it, especially the Fanatics! Otherwise, nothing else really happened.
Shooting saw my Marauders get a roll on the EotG, and my Champion received an extra attack.
In Combat, my Marauder Champ challenged, and took down the unit champion in the Goblin unit, but just barely. Otherwise, we drew. The Lobba crew was decimated.

Turn 4
This is where it turns absolutely insane! He charged a unit of Night Goblins into my Knights with the Hero. We were close to the table edge, and he had lots of SCR... He also charged my left-most unit of Warriors with the Spider Riders and the Night Goblins.
His magic was silenced here.
Nothing much from shooting. The Doom Diver didn't hit it's mark, but it would have hurt if it did!
His Goblins sent my Knights packing! His netters saved his hide, most certainly. The knights ran, and just barely stayed on the board!! I fluffed most of my attacks, and rolled poorly to stay in combat against his amazing SCR. They didn't catch me either, so I was ready to come back next turn... the Marauders failed miserably here, so ran away. They were run down in good order by the Goblins, who managed to find their way into my awaiting Chaos Warriors. They stood there, waiting for combat. My left-most unit of Warriors barely stayed in combat. They did a decent number of wounds, with just enough to cling in battle.

Turn 5
No movement on his end, everyone was in combat! He had his Spider Riders and Night Goblins from the left tied in combat with my left-most Warriors. His unit of Night Goblins with his General just pursued into my unit of Warriors on the right. His Goblins on the far right stayed near the Hill, ready to take a charge from my Knights with my Hero.
His magic was stopped. Since he was in combat, his nastiest spells were of little use.
His shooting didn't do much again. He did take down a knight with his Doom Diver, though.
Into Combat, he finally broke my unit of Warriors on the left, who were run-down with vigor. His units there ran into my right-ward Warriors. Those guys did okay, though. They dished out some decent damage and stayed around.

My turn, I charged my Knights with Hero into his awaiting Goblins. My other unit of Knights turned toward the center of the table (while they were near where the Upper-Right war machine started), wanting to get a Rear Charge! The Warshrine managed to flank charge the Spider Riders who were sitting on the flanks of my Warriors.
My magic phase was just about shut down...
EotG didn't help enough!
My Knights saw away the Night Goblins on the hill. The Night Goblins netted themselves, so they were easy prey for once!:laugh: They over-ran and were dangerously close to the big battle in the center of the table. My other knights advanced on that area, too.
I managed to stick around, dealing just barely enough damage to keep my Warriors in the game.

We had to end the game there, since the Goblin player had to head out. We figured that he'd have broken my Warriors next turn, but that my Knights would gun down the Goblins whether they did break them or not.

Regardless, here's the toll:

Me:
-Squig unit
-Squig unit
-Gobbo unit
-Spider Rider unit
-Rock Lobba unit
-Spider Rider banner

Him
-Warriors Unit
-Marauders Unit
-Marauder Banner
-Warriors Banner
-Knights Banner
-Table Quarter

I don't recall the points, but we just called it even. It was an amazing game, and was pure fun! There's nothing like a good old blood-bath for the Blood God, and some fighting for the Greenskins!


Up next, my WoC are going to take on some Dwarfs. I'm afraid this guy is going to bring a pure-cheese, Win At All Costs army at 3000pts. Goblin Hewers are going to be maxed out, I guarantee. I plan on bringing either a pure-crap army, or a pure-speed army. Dragon Ogres and Marauder Horsemen come to mind...
I could have taken my High Elves against the Dwarfs, but the idea behind my Army to be rekindling old ties to the Forces of Order in the Old World. Such a fight just wouldn't seem right, you know?

Anyway, I'll update my Tactics article shortly, and will then throw around some more ideas here.


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

So, another WoC battle report. Well, I'll skip the long-winded jabber, and focus on the game-changing phenomena, so you guys don't have to sit through any of my long-winded jibberish.


Okay, here goes.

My opponent brought Dwarfs. He had some decent shooty units: Goblin Hewer, a couple Canons, and an Organ gun, plus a couple units of Thunderers. Plus some Combat stuff.

I brought in pure magic. Vilitch, Lvl 4, and two Lvl 2 sorcerers. Plus some Warriors, a pair of Hell Canons, and a tiny unit of Dragon Ogres.


-We deployed poorly. He didn't castle up, but chose to spread his units out. I castled, when I should have spread out a bit more.

-I had the movement advantage, so that worked well in my favor. I was able to isolate his nastiest units. That worked out, sometimes. It did leave my Dragon Ogres to themselves against some Hammerers. Too bad, really. They must have snuck away with a barrel of Dwarf beer...
:alcoholic:

-My Hell Canons took down a Goblin Hewer, but otherwise didn't make their points back. I'm terrible with Guess Weapons, despite my grandiose knowledge of finite measurements (son of a Carpenter, and an aspiring Architect). They eventually misfired, making all my mages miscast instantly. Sigh.

-Aside from the forced miscasts there, my mages miscast on their own! They didn't seem to mind the seering essence of Change lashing at them, though. Yay for me! The canons had some say in the matter, though. I got lucky and ward-saved those away. All my mages survived to the end. A 6+ Ward can be an amazing thing!

-Tzeentch magic, when it doesn't blow up in your face, can be absolutely nasty, or an absolute flop. Making an Exalted Hero just pop up on a 9+ in one instance, then a magic missile dealing two S3 hits on a 15+ in another is just... dense. My mages didn't make their points back, like my canons.

-The Warriors, equipped with Shields and Halberds, did some absolutely nasty damage to the Dwarfs. Granted, I got some nice rolls off, but still they did some serious damage. If it weren't for being gunned down incesantly, they'd have made their points back.

All in all, it was yet another draw for yours truly. I did peg down a lot of his combat troops, but he took down a couple of my more expensive ones. In a 3000pt game, it all came down to winning combat in the first turn and running down the other guy. Otherwise, those Dwarfs were packing some nasty, nasty melee capacity.
Plus, breaking a gunline is never easy. Luckily, the guy I faced was very nice and very smart in his composition, and left most of the nasty stuff at home.

It was a tense game until I started to misfire and miscast. Then I was just in it to see how badly I would hurt myself! It was just getting hilarious then.

Okay. I promise I'll bring back the High Elves. I'll probably re-post a list, based on Maiden's suggestion a post or two back (about upping the mage a bit), with maybe a bit more emphasis on the magic. I'm thinking two Level 2 mages, Banner of Sorcery, and two Nobles on foot. Maybe one mounted. A BSB would be a nice thing to try, too. I'll figure something out, and let you all have a look, I promise!
k:


----------



## squeek (Jun 8, 2008)

Nice battle reports, always interesting reading how other people do things in game. I can bump them in to a new WoC thread if you would rather keep this just for HE?


----------



## MaidenManiac (Oct 2, 2008)

Ascendant Valor said:


> -My Hell Canons took down a Goblin Hewer, but otherwise didn't make their points back. I'm terrible with Guess Weapons, despite my grandiose knowledge of finite measurements (son of a Carpenter, and an aspiring Architect). They eventually misfired, making all my mages miscast instantly. Sigh.
> 
> -Aside from the forced miscasts there, my mages miscast on their own! They didn't seem to mind the seering essence of Change lashing at them, though. Yay for me! The canons had some say in the matter, though. I got lucky and ward-saved those away. All my mages survived to the end. A 6+ Ward can be an amazing thing!...


Sounds like you missed out one of the most important items in the WoC book(if you use hillcannons and sorcerers): the Infernal Puppet. Lets you control your misscasts very nicely thanks to bumping results up or down. Against Dwarfs that means try to get result 5-6, he cant cast shit so that result is "no effect at all":wink:
This is atleast 2 times better if you have Hillcannons on the board and the opponent plays mages. Make your own mages roll harmless rolls when all misscasts and make his roll 5-6, thus getting you to cast infernal gateway once again!:good:


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

I genuinely appreciate the offer, Squeek, but I don't want to clutter up the forums with my ranting battle reports! Besides, I really need to get back to my High Elves anyway.

At Maiden:
At the end of the game, I really did miss having that item! I had the Skull of Katam instead, which did well but often times I didn't need it (I'd often score either 10 over the casting value, or I would miscast...). Hence, with so many opportunities to miscast, I really, really should have taken it along.


----------



## Ascendant Valor (Jan 3, 2009)

So, it's come to this: another Warriors of Chaos battle report.

I must say, they're an absolute blast to play as, and since they're so different from High Elves it's really nice to change things up.

So, I teamed up with a fellow WoC player to face off against High Elves at 2000pts.

High Elves:
Eltharion
-Stormwing
BSB Noble
-Battle Banner
Mage
-Lvl2
-2x Dispel Scroll
Mage
-2x Dispell Scroll
Archers
Archers
-Banner (WTF?!)
Phoenix Guard
-Full Command
-BSB and a mage went here
Sword Masters
Tiranoc Chariot
Dragon Princes
Dragon Princes
RBT x3


Chaos Coalition (again, WTF?!)
Tzeenchian Sorcerer Lord
-Power Familiar
-Crown of Everlasting Conquest
-+1 Spell
Tzeenchian Sorcerer, Level 2
-Skull of Katam
Tzeenchian Sorcerer, Level 2
-Infernal Puppet
Tzeenchian Warriors
-Shields, Full Command
Tzeenchian Warriors
-Shields, Full Command
Tzeenchian Marauders
-L. Armor, Shields, Full Command
Tzeenchian War Shrine
Tzeenchian Giant
Tzeenchian Knights

That's more or less what was there. Nothing fancy, but it was simple.

We kept deployment simple. Our mages were deployed on our Right Flank, while they were guarded by some Warriors. The Archers and RBTs were on a hill across from the mages, but a forest blocked their vision. In the middle were the Knights, the Giant, War Shrine, Warriors and Marauders. Opposite them were the Phoenix Guard, Tiranoc Chariot, and a unit of Dragon Princes. Looking down our Left Flank was another unit of Dragon Princes. 

Turn 1

We got first turn, and let the power-magic go. The High Elves were quick to burn their Dispell Scrolls. That was expected, though we would have preferred to burn Eltharion where he stood... Aside from that, we prepared the Middle to hold while the Left Flankers drew in (Dragon Princes are superior to Marauders, after all).

The High Elves sent in all their forces, but put Eltharion and Stormwing next to a unit of Warriors. That seemed to be a terrible move for the army's general, but the Terror Bomb succeeded and sent our first Warriors packing. Magic saw a miscast, where we attempted to cast Infernal Gateway. This pulled up one of the last scrolls our opponent had. The shooting put some wounds on the Giant, but that was about it. No combat yet.

Turn 2

We prepared our units for the charges. The Marauders advanced, protecting the Giant's flank, while the Giant prepared for a flank charge on the Phoenix Guard for when they charged the Warriors. Unfortunately, we didn't ready our Knights for a charge from Eltharion. That was a mistake. The mages otherwise prepared for the worst and stayed in the forest, away from Eltharion. Magic was again quelled. 

Eltharion charged our Knights' flank. The Phoenix Guard charged our central Warriors. The Chariot and Dragon Princes forced their way into the Marauders. Magic was uneventful. Shooting was nerfed. The Marauders held, surprisingly, from only a couple wounds. The Ward Saves helped a bit. The Knights faired well against Eltharion, who fluffed his attacks; one wound meant that the combat was a draw.

Turn 3

We sent in the Giant into the Phoenix Guard. The War Shrine failed to charge Stormwing. Magic, however, saw Stormwing off. Combat between Eltharion and the Knights was again a draw. The Phoenix Guard, with the BSB and a Mage, held against the Warriors and the Giant.

A second unit of Dragon Princes hit the Marauders, while the Chariot rallied and prepared to take on the Giant with the remaining Sword Masters. The Sword Masters failed to charge the Giant, however. Eltharion saw off another two Knights, proving he is still potent without his menacing chicken. The Phoenix Guard proved everlong, but the mage in tow was less fortunate. The BSB proved strong enough to quell any attempts to win the combat. The Marauders suffered some considerable casualties, though they still held.

Turn 4

The Knights, with the help of the War Shrine's gift of becoming Terror-causers, saw off Eltharion in good order. The Warriors and Giant could not see the Phoenix Guard away. They held too strong. Even after the rampage of the Giant and the BSB crumpling beneath the Chaos onslaught. Their Ward Save is nothing less than impressive. The Marauders held just as strong as the Phoenix Guard, however. 

Here's where we drew the line. It was 11PM, and buses needed to be caught, dinner needed to be had.

Some interesting notes:
-ASF is amazing, but not overpowered. It just takes some solid thinking to master... Phoenix Guard have a tough time hurting a Giant, for instance.
-Mark of Tzeentch's Ward Save isn't weak. It saved our Marauders more times than it probably should have, allowing them to stick around. The Knights and Warriors even saw off a couple wounds. Still, Mark of Nurgle would have done better.
-The War Shrine is fantastic in a pinch. Making our Knights cause Terror was crucial to see Eltharion off at the end of the match. Plus it shed off a lot of Archer fire with contemptuous ease.
-Sword Masters are scary. When I found they were in charge range of the Giant's rear, I almost shat myself. Thankfully a failed Fear test put my fears aside.
-Psychology can be a pain. It made our Warriors run off the table, and the Sword Masters stood in place when they should have charged.
-Warriors of Chaos can deal out the pain, almost as well as the Sword Masters can. 
-Infernal Puppet, as Maiden suggested, is fantastic when the risk of miscasting is high. With a Sorcerer Lord and a magical posse is fielded is a prime time to unleash it. Even with an elven flurry of Level 2 casters, it proved worthwhile.


It ended in a rough draw. If it would have continued on, the High Elves would have crumpled our Left Flank and swept through. Perhaps our sorcerers would have fended for themselves, but it would not have been pretty. A victory for the High Elves seemed likely. We did manage to knock off a mage and the BSB which was crucial, but in the long run it may have not counted for enough.

It was a fantastic game, though. While laughing about a miscast by the High Elves, we managed two miscasts! We cursed Eltharion on turn one when he scared off a unit of battle-hardened Warriors of Chaos, while shortly after Eltharion was sent packing by Terror-Causing Knights. Karma is an ass, no?


----------

