A Rather Lengthy Enmity

It seems that every time our armies go toe to toe we decimate each other. Every game is almost too close to call, and this one did not disappoint - Dark Elves versus Skaven grudge-match go!

Army Composition


We decided to play 3000 points to allow for more cool stuff. The troops of my Druchii army generally stay the same from battle to battle, primarily because I have found a balance between number of units and their striking power. With this in mind, I still changed the posted list fairly significantly.

The troops, as I've mentioned, stayed mostly the same, except that this time around I dropped my small block of spear-elves. In general, they seem to only be useful in combat as a horde (which I cant field due to lack of models) or as a bodyguard for a sorceress with the Sacrificial Dagger. This left me with two units of light cavalry, two small units of repeater crossbow-elves, a decent block both of Corsairs and Blackguard, both incredibly vicious, and a hammer unit in the form of  ten Cold One Knights. To fill in some gaps I took two units of shades, who normally I don't play because (1) I fight woodsy elves and cant really compete with those archers and (2) because Tomb Kings archers are stupid. That being said, I really do like the way they play, and these units would help me use my assassin later on. A devestating War Hydra rounds out my list; honestly I couldnt really imagine playing this large a game without fielding this brutal monster.

For Characters, I decided to take a large number to make me feel better about how many of my elves would be incinerated by my foe's cantankerous artillery. Hopefully, even if only a few Druchii survive, I'll still be able to break his rat-men.

With this in mind, I replaced Lady Kataira, the level 4 sorceress, who wields the sacrificial dagger, with a more precision-oriented lvl 2 on a pegasus. Given her superb mobility, I decided on the Lore of Darkness, so as to take advantage of any excellent vantage-points I could find. Not only that, but because my army is so small, Chillwind and Bladewind, both spells whose main purpose is denying the enemy their shooting/artillery respectively, would be essential for my army's survival. Another lvl 2 with the lore of shadows and a dispel scroll padded out my magical arsenal.
The Cauldron of Blood (thus far unfit for any respectable gaming venue, being totally unassembled) I added in to enhance and protect my Knights, or if my general and his BSB are in danger I could simply grant them a 5+ ward save for the turn. An assassin, valuable in terms of combat res and, well, assassinations, finishes off my rather lengthy dramatis personae. 

My Skaven opponent Molgrimmar fielded a rather small, elite army (well, in ratmen terms). Only three units of clanrats and one of each Plague-Monks, Stormvermin, slaves, and an Abomination. However, this army contained several weapon teams, six jezails and a trio of artillery pieces, making me quiver every time the Skaven shooting phase rolled around. For characters, we finally convinced him of the value of the battle-standard bearer, so this time his grey seer Skribbins trundled onto the field atop his screaming bell accompanied by a rather nervous looking banner-rat. A plague Priest, recently vindicated in several rounds of Character Arena we had played a few weeks ago, marched alongside the plague monks to give them some high strength attacks. Stevie Wonder, his rocket-rat, can't really resist the chance to incinerate enemy battalions and shows up unfailingly to every battle. This army also include number of support units (including rat ogres and just regular run-of-the-mill rats) 

Deployment

:

 Our table was neatly bisected by a road, capped on the one side by a tower and the other by a wooded cottage. Several hills allowed for the strategic placement of the Skaven warp-guns and the elfen Cauldron of Blood. The dark elves didn't really bother forming up into a battle line, but rather formed a front on either side of their deployment zone's hill. As the graceful cavalry zipped around the very edges of the battlefield, the Skaven line  clustered around the center, hoping to anchor their right flank with the woods and solid walls. With the Dark Elves winning the roll for first turn, the battle commenced with a bloodthirsty cry.

What the fuck am I supposed to throw at this thing?

Early Turns

Due to my nefarious maneuvering, my enemies have rightly learned to hate my
light cavalry. In this case, Molgrimmar allocated an Hell-Pit Abomination and
an entire block of clanrats to the task of dealing with these expeditious assholes.

The first turn was mostly maneuvering, with no combat taking place. Shooting on both sides did fairly little damage, but my sorceress did manage to pick off a few jezzails. Magic fizzled on the Skaven side, as Skribbins' first spell (needed a 7+ on 3 dice) whiffed.










In this game, there wasnt really any one turn where our armies clashed. Rather, on all side, minor skirmishes started to sap our warhost's strength. On turn two, the pega-sorce killed a lightning cannon, and the shades wiped out a small unit of giant rats as they charged out of the forest. An entire rank of Corsairs were eaten away by a well placed gloop-o-glob from the Skaven plague-o-pult, while the Abomination spasmed and pulverized a unit of Dark Riders under its flailing bulk. Skribbins brain-farted once again, but this time he cast scorch with irresistible force and lost several wizard levels, critically retaining, however, both Plague and the Dreaded Thirteenth spell (the scorch itself didnt do much damage at all).

The Knights stand off against a block of clanrats taking up defensive positions.
Lord Balewind & co. takes refuge in a small unit of crossbow warriors.

Mid-game


By turn three, the combats had begun with the Corsairs charging headlong into the Skavenslaves directly in front of them. After butchering them handily, they overran into the Stormvermin. Much of the dark Elf magic failed, but the last of the jezzails taking cover on the hill were scattered in the shooting phase, and at the same time a furious cascade of iron-tipped bolts severely reduced the clanrats cowering behind the fences. Neither the knights, nor the Abomination, seemed to be in a position to effectively charge, so the Skaven shooting focused on the mounted nobility and the full regiment of Blackguard who had just charged the Plague monks. How do you shoot into combat, I hear you wonder? Well, Stevie Wonder let loose with his rocket and sent to an especially fiery hell some 13 of the elite Dark Elves, while the artillery killed only a couple knights. However, the Plague-wind mortar, deservedly the most ubiquitous of the skaven weapon teams, decided that now was the best time to settle a bitterly held rivalry with the Stormvermin - after "misfiring", it sent a poisoned shell hurtling smack into the middle of the Skaven's best shock troops, and killed 8. The corsairs, surprised to find their enemies writhing and choking on their own fluids, swept aside the meagre resistance. On the right flank, the few remaining blackguard tore into the diseased Monks and killed several, but were all slain save the heroic captain - the Master in Crimson, armed with an especially potent Agonizer blade.

Undaunted my the carnage surrounding him, this badass continued to hold back the frenzied ratmen for another crucial turn.

 The next turn (4) was filled with madness. On the Druchii left, Balewind and his new Shade retinue (now with more assassin in every bite!) wiped out the fence-rats, while the knights struggled through a sustained warp-charged fusillade. The last of the Skaven artillery was destroyed or chased off the battlefield, to the cheers (jeers?) of the remaining Elves. The Abomination and Skribbins' units attempted to crush an untouched unit of crossbows, but failing in their charges, were left in a position that could not be described as optimal. Unfortunately, disaster struck the battered Elven warhost when Skribbins wolfed down all three of his warpstone tokens to cast the Dreaded Thirteenth spell, turning the last of the gore-drenched Corsairs into a new unit of Clanrats!

Shit son. Those guys were so covered in rat bits that neither side could tell which
regiment came out of that massacre. Skribbins, long since unable to legitimately cast spells, claimed
the credit when it turned out to be rats. 

Endgame and Analysis

The last few turns finally saw the knights careen into combat: they wiped out without resistance the remaining Plague Monks; the newly mutated clanrats were chased off by a combination of several different units. The sorceress took up a position directly in front of the Screaming Bell, preventing them from charging the now vulnerable knights. The Abomination failed to contact the Cold One cavalry. With those same knights maneuvering into position to charge, and the fact that his army was now reduced to a handful of models, Molgrimmar conceded victory. All glory to the Land of Chill! Exulted are the corpse-makers of Naggaroth!

After Action Reflections:

Obviously this game hung in the balance till the very last turns. Had the knights not been able to cut down the plague vermin, and had they been subsequently charged themselves, the results very well might have gone in the Skaven's favour. That being said, the first few magic phases were uniformly substandard. Minor damage characterized the both arcane endeavours and the voluminous shooty-shooty (dakkadakkadakkadakka Oi boss iz u hittin anyting? Oh, youz iz aimin? I jus like da sound it maeks!) In fact, the most devastating Skaven barrage was against its own elite troops.

On the other hand, almost every combat went in the Dark Elves' favour, due I think primarily to their incomparable mobility. The Skaven really do lack cavalry, and even though Molgrimmar took two small units of giant rats (presumably to act as chaff in order to block my light troops) the flying sorceress, the shade skirmishers and the plentiful cavalry ensured that every battle was fought on Dark Elf terms. This is normally offset by the murderous tyranny of the many warp-powered war machines that the ratmen hurl towards their foes, but in this game the twin lightning cannons and the plague-o-pult did fairly little damage. Combined with one or two critically failed charges against the Blackguard, and the enormous embarrassment of Skribbins' magical undertaking, the failure to properly reduce my hard hitting units, and the impossibility of killing most of my characters ensured a Dark Elf victory.

The Hell-Pit Abomination lets loose an oddly high-pitched squeal as Skribbins attempts to marshal his terrified troops back towards the enemy. Skribbins himself, through copious magical mismanagement, was the only model to cause wounds to the Screaming Bell unit.

The Druchii Command Squad, headed by Balewind
himself, slaughtered their way through several dozen
clanrats and remained untouched. Apart from a few
mooks, but what're 2 or 3 hill-folk between friends?

This final valourous act sealed the Skaven's fate. Without an opportunity to attack the
 remaining units, and potentially going up against a Pendant of Khaeleth (6- ward saves), Molgi-mole
simply decided that cowardice is the better part of courage, and Skribbins decided then and there to cut his
losses, despite the chewing out (oh shit thats probably literal) that he would face from his superiors/funders.