Menhir A True Word: Beastmen vs Wood Elves

 This forest ain't big enough for the both of us.

It's a clash of the wild places! Red in tooth and claw vs green in leaf and thorn as the Beastmen fight the Wood Elves for possession of a herdstone.

Beastmen

Warsmith Chris will be blowing the horn for the beasts once more, and after their devastating run-out last time, he has generously left the Razorgor at home... and replaced them with a Cygor and a Giant.

The Beastlord in the chariot is clearly the one to watch, but because of the force organisation, the humble Bray-Shaman is the warlord.

• Bray-Shaman (warlord)
  Braystaff, Level 2 Wizard
  Dark Magic: Doombolt, Word of Pain
• Beastlord
  Additional hand weapon, Heavy armour, Tuskgor Chariot
• 20 x Gor Herd
  Command group, Additional hand weapons
• 20 x Gor Herd
  True-horn, Standard bearer, Additional hand weapons
• 1 x Tuskgor Chariot
  Bestigor Crew: Great weapons; Gor Crew x 1: Cavalry spear, Tuskgor
• 3 x Minotaur Herd
  Bloodkine, Great weapon, Light armour
• 1 x Cygor
  Hand weapon (claws), Hurl attack, Light armour (calloused hide)
• Chaos Giant
  Giant's club, Heavy armour (scaly skin), Regeneration (6+)

Wood Elves

I've played a few conventional Wood Elves lists do far, but now I'm warmed-up, I can get properly elfy. Lots of small units to harass and scamper around, and some longbow-sniping characters to ruin someone's day.

• Madoc Duramen - Glade Lord (warlord)
  Great weapon, Light armour, Arcane Bodkins
  Talisman of Protection, Bow of Loren
• Ifor Gad - Waystalker
  Additional hand weapon, Light armour, Trueflight Arrows
  Hail of Doom Arrow
• Branwen Urushiol - Spellsinger
  Level 2 Wizard
  Elementalism: Flock of Doom, Summon Elemental Spirit
• 10 x Glade Guard
  Lord's Bowmen, Asrai Longbows, Trueflight Arrows
• 10 x Glade Guard
  Lord's Bowmen, Asrai Longbows, Trueflight Arrows
• 5 x Deepwood Scouts
  Asrai Longbows, Hagbane Tips
• 5 x Deepwood Scouts
  Asrai Longbows, Hagbane Tips
• 5 x Wild Riders
  Command group, Hunting Spear, Light armour, Shields
• 5 x Wardancers
  Bladesinger, Additional hand weapons
• 5 x Wardancers
  Bladesinger, Additional hand weapons
• 5 x Waywatchers
  Sentinel, Asrai Longbows, Arcane Bodkins, Ambushers

Mission and deployment

The mission is The Lonely Tower, and the prize this time is the herdstone: a Monument of Glory that gives a bonus 250pts to whoever controls it at the end of the game.

The Beastmen set up across the field: both units in the centre, supervised by the Bray-Shaman and Beastlord. On the right flank, the Giant and Cygor. On the left, Chariot and Minotaurs.

The Wood Elves are less conventional. Both units of Glade Guard hang as far back as possible from the deployment line, one on a hill and the other in the centre, joined by Glade Captain and Spellsinger.

The Wardancers take up positions in and around the forest to the left and right, the Scouts move forward to occupy these woods too, with the left-flank one joined by the Waystalker.

The Wild Riders deploy centrally, and right in the back of the field, and the Waywatchers are set in Ambush.

The Arrow of Kurnous bounces off the Bray-Shaman's tough hide, but the Wood Elves take the first turn anyway!

Turn 1 - Wood Elves

The Wood Elves are cautious, with only the left flank Wardancers moving forward. Everyone else just loose arrows across the field.

The Cygor loses two wounds to the Scout's poisoned arrows, and the Tuskgor chariot loses a couple ftom the other Scout unit.

The Waystalker attempts to snipe out the True-horn from one of the Gor units, but misses. Both Glade Guards and the Glade Lord's Bow of Loren - let fly at the Gors. The volley is a pretty poor one, and only a handful of Gors are killed.

Turn 1 - Beastmen

By contrast, everything rumbles forward. With the exception of the Cygor, who's found a comfortable high place to throw rocks from.

Both Gor units secure the herdstone, the Giant menaces the Scouts and the Chariot refuses to be drawn into a charge-flee dance with the other Scouts, so just races past them.

The Bray-Shaman's Doombolt removes a Scout, and then the Cygor's rock lands directly on the Glade Guard and characters at the back. Three Glade Guard fall, the Spellsinger loses a wound, but the Glade Lord leaps clear.

Turn 2 - Wood Elves

I'm already losing the long-range duel, so I need to get proactive. Keeping out of charge arcs is the order of the day, so the Wardancers skip around the side of the Giant, while the Waystalker avoids the Gor unit to get close enough to shoot at the Bray-Shaman (this is why people find Wood Elves infuriating).

Sensing the urgency, the Waywatchers arrive behind the Beastmen lines, completing my paper-thin encirclement.

The Spellsinger runs forward from the lines, partly to get in range of her spells and partly to spread out in case of further stone bombardment.

I only have one charge, and quite a desperate one: the Scouts run into the exposed flank of the Chariot. It's down to half wounds, and I'd probably have better luck shooting it with Hagbanes, but I'm hoping that the flank charge might tip the balance, and allow me to pursue out of the Minotaurs' charge arc.

The Waystalker once again misses his shot. I continue to target the injured Gor unit with everything, arrows and magic, this time causing enough casualties to force a Panic test (which they pass).

Worryingly, my Spellsinger on a single wound miscasts one of her spells, but proves surprisingly resilient to its effects.

The combat between Scouts and Chariot ends as a draw, which leaves them nicely placed for a charge from the Minotaurs.

Turn 2 - Beastmen

Some reorganisation is needed to anticipate all the elven threats. The half-strength Gor unit reforms to face the Waywatchers. The Giant ignores all distractions and ploughs on through the wood.

The Bray-Shaman and Beastlord peel off to deal with the Waystalker and Scouts and the untouched Gor unit moves forward

Shooting is light, as another couple of Scouts fall to Doombolt and the Cygor's rock is flung wild.

The only combat is brief and bloody: the Minotaurs steam into the flank of the Scouts, kill the lot of them with ease, and both Minotaurs and Chariot overrun closer to my right flank.

Turn 3 - Wood Elves

Time to unleash my combat units - the Wardancers who were hidden in the right flank wood jump out and repeat the flank charge on the Tuskgor Chariot, the same way the Scouts did. This may seem like the definition of insanity, but the Scouts were light missile troops and these are melee specialists. Two wounds on a chariot shouldn't be beyond them, should it?

The other charge is the Wild Riders slamming directly into the untouched unit of Gors - those elven steeds are so fast that even a Flee reaction might have doomed them, so they'll have to tough it out.

The evasion continues on the left flank, with the other Wardancers skipping far out to the side, and the two remaining Scouts trying to tempt the Cygor to charge. 

For the third turn in a row, I unleash every arrow at the Gor unit. The Waystalker stops trying to snipe characters and remembers he has the Hail of Doom arrow. He fires this, and achieves nothing (he's having a bit of a 'mare this battle - and I'm not convinced the Hail of Doom is all it once was).

With help from the Glade Lord's Bow of Loren and the Waywatchers, the unit is reduced to eight Gor, but it's heavy going.

The Tuskgor Chariot continues to withstand attacks, as the Wardancers whiff many of their strikes, and then only get one wound past its toughness and armour. The combat is drawn and the Minotaurs are looming on the flank - this is starting to look familiar.

It's better news in the centre, as the Wild Riders tear through the Gor unit - I even dedicate some attacks to their True-horn, to ensure nothing is alive to strike back at my fragile cavalry. Two ranks are wiped out, and the unit falls back in good order. Being frenzied, I must pursue, which suits me just fine, as we get to do it all over again next turn.

Turn 3 - Beastmen

The Beastmen now get to return the favour with the charges. The Beastlord drives his chariot directly at the hapless Waystalker, who disappears under his wheels. The Minotaurs slam into the flank of the Wardancers, and the unit of Gor who were turned around to face the ambushers declare a charge against the Waywatchers.

Naturally, the Waywatchers elect to Fire & Flee - and kill three Gors before they make a run for it. They're a little close to the edge of the battlefield, but only a roll of a 6 will mean they leave the field...

So that's the Waywatchers out of there.

The Giant burst from the forest, delighted to have found something he can charge. He loses a few wounds from the Glade Guard's reaction, and decides to pick up and headbutt the champion in revenge.

The Cygor has got his eye back in with the rock throwing - his magical boulder lands directly on the Spellsinger and crushes her flat (I seem to remember that being the plot of an Asterix book).

With enemies all around, the Wardancer dance the Woven Mist to proved a 4++ ward save. They're too preoccupied with this to do anything about the chariot, who once again survives their attacks. And the mist doesn't help them against the Minotaurs either, who claw them down as they fail every save.

With unusual restraint, both Chariot and Minotaurs try not to overrun their beaten foes, but with characteristic indiscipline, they can't help ploughing on forward - mere inches away from the Glade Lord and his retinue.

This are looking grim for me, but the Wild Riders provide a spark of hope: they repeat their massacre of the Gor unit, and the survivors turn and flee, only to be cut down (and their banner nicked!).

This allows the Wild Riders to reform and position themselves ready to charge into the flank of the Chariot (and, with an overrun, the Minotaurs).

It gets better from there - the annihilation of a nearby unit causes the Beastlord to panic (let's say his charioteers panicked, not him). He flees away from the nearest enemy - which is actually the Scouts he was about to run down.

This means the chariot flees through the Wild Riders (taking a wound as they hamstring a tuskgor as he passes by) and ends up directly in front of them, in the path of their charge.

Now this is interesting.

Turn 4 - Wood Elves

So the Wild Riders declare a charge against the fleeing Beastlord, who can only flee again - directly through the other Chariot and Minotaurs (luckily neither are panicked - I need them to stay where they are).

The Wild Riders then redirect into the flank of the Chariot and the Glade Lord and Glade Guard charge into the Minotaurs. This may seem like folly, but there's a plan here.

On the left flank (the only flank I have left), the Wardancers decide that the Cygor isn't going to be baited, so race across to try and claim the herdstone.

The final two Scouts try a speculative shot at the Bray-Shaman, who has now strayed from the protective cover of his troops (or had them destroyed in front of him). I only have two shots - but the Bray-Shaman only has two wounds - and they kill him!

(mark down these scouts for Waystalker training - they're clearly better than the last guy)

Then to combat - the Wild Riders go first, and smash through the Tuskgor Chariot (finally!). They overrun into the flank of the Minotaurs and, because I haven't activated that combat yet, they get to fight again.

So they repeat the onslaught - as does the Glade Lord, who goes next. Both of them actually under-perform, but that's still enough to kill two Minotaurs. The surviving Blood-kine does hack a few wounds off the Glade Lord, but then decides to run for it. The Glade Guard restrain, the Wild Riders pursue and run it down.

And all of a sudden, this battle has turned on its head!

Turn 4 - Beastmen

In a scramble to regain the initiative, the Beastlord rallies to face the oncoming charge of the Wild Riders. The last surviving unit of Gor turns around again to get back to claim the herdstone.

The Cygor lobs his stone, but wildly misses and the Giant headbutts another Glade Guard. That's the third turn in a row he's done this, so he's clearly in a groove that works for him, but he's taking a lot of time dealing with one missile unit and, though he keeps winning the combat, he is bogged down over there.

Turn 5 - Wood Elves

This could be the last turn, so it's a race to score points.

The Glade Guard march towards the herdstone, while the Wild Riders charge the Beastlord.

After such an impressive performance so far, they start to tire against the high toughness and armour of the Beastlord's chariot. They do manage to bring the Beastlord down to two wounds, but they're not ready for the counterstrike, and four of their number are cut down.

(a weak point for the Wild Riders - they always need to do enough damage to avoid getting hit back)

The champion turns and flees, escaping the pursuit of the Beastlord.

In the centre of the battlefield, the Wardancers charge into the five remaining Gor, in what should be a formality. Instead, they whiff horrendously, and only kill two of their number, losing two of their own in reply and being forced to fall back in good order. What happened there?

And on the hill, the Giant finally wakes up to the urgency of the situation, and wipes out the Glade Guard with a series of belly-flops and thunderstomps. He turns to face the monolith, but has he left it too late?

Turn 5 - Beastmen

One thing the last round of combat achieved - neither Gors nor Wardancers are now able to secure the herdstone (you must be at least unit strength 5). With that in mind, the Cygor finally gets off his haunches and starts lumbering towards the objective. 

The Giant does the same, and the behemoths seem fairly unstoppable with what is left for the Elves.

Eager for blood, the Beastlord charges the fleeing Wild Rider, but it manages to run clear once again - they're running through the forest, and the elven steeds are a lot more sure-footed, whereas the iron-wheeled chariot risks injury just charging through the terrain.

We roll for the end of the game, and we will continue!

Turn 6 - Wood Elves

The Wild Rider champion rallies to face the Beastlord, the Glade Guard march close enough to the herdstone to secure it - it's back in my possession now.

The Glade Lord detaches from the unit and takes aim at the Beastlord's chariot. The Bow of Loren could use some re-stringing, as the four shots only manage to take one wound from the chariot - it's alive with one left!

The remaining Wardancers do recover some of their pride and wipe out the remaining Gors with their charge. Just the big beasts left now.

Turn 6 - Beastmen

Moving as fast as their long legs will take them, neither Cygor nor Giant gets within range of the herdstone yet.

But the Beastlord can still take a scalp - he declares a charge against the lone Wild Rider, but was so intent on his quarry, he ran the chariot directly into a tree. Total write-off.

With Warsmith Chris still aghast at his luck, we roll for the end of the game - and it's over!

All the remains of the Beastmen army are the two giants, who will wander off while the Wood Elves are free to purge the stench of chaos from their forest.

Result - 1255 : 675

Victory to the Wood Elves!

Locker Room

Amazing game - that was the most fun I've had playing The Old World so far. I wonder if the cause of this - aside from a top opponent - was the increasing points scale. More units to have crazier things happen.

It felt like a wonderfully narrative battle, with the elves surrounding the hordes of beasts, before pouncing on them. It would be great to see a rematch where beastmen lean heavily into skirmishers and ambushers, and turn the tables on them.

I wouldn't say I had my tactics sorted yet (charging that chariot with Scouts was something of a daft move), but I'm getting back into the idea of how Wood Elves operate, and it is great fun. Avoiding the behemoths was probably the right move, as I had no answer for them, and I was lucky the Cygor held back from getting stuck in for so long (but when your stone-throwing is so accurate, why move?)

I don't usually comment on dice rolls - but my run of luck during this game was pretty appalling. Which is, perversely, another attraction of the Old World - no rerolls or command points to adjust your fate, you just have to lump it. And luck always turns around - like the enemy chariot rolling a 1 and getting destroyed with the final roll of the game.