Warhammer Tuesday and time for another game. It was time to switch things up wit the armies again. The Wachmeister came with his Nurgle army ready to go. This time around, we decided to pull out a buddy of mine’s High Elf Army. Maybe I should not call it an army, but a High Elf army with escort…. Anyway, two thousand points on each side and a standard battle line set up it was.
The Nurgle force included Papa Nurgle, a BSB on palanquin, two units of plague bearers, a unit of Furries, a unit of Flys, a unit of Nurglings, a unit of Beasts and a Soul Grinder of Nurgle. The High Elf force included a Prince on Dragon, BSB on Gryphon, a unit of Sea Guard, a unit of Sisters, a unit of Silver Helms, a unit of Reavers, a mounted 4 level mage, a Frostheart Phoenix and an Eagle.
We split up the players with two per side, rolled for sides and set up and got things going. The set up basically had both sides stretched out across the front. The heavy hitters and light troops formed up in the middle, with the Sea Guard and Silver Helms protecting the flanks. Nurgle went with a solid line of slower troops and characters in the center, with the Sole Grinder taking the right and the Flys and Harpies taking the left to swing around the flanks, as the center ground forward. The elves take the first turn and move forward in the center with the flyers and Sea Guard seize the hill. The Drago throws down the gauntlet. All the remaining units maneuver about and fire and magic into the deamons with not much effect. A few wounds are managed on the Soul Grinder, but that is about it.
Papa Nurgle has no fear of such puny elves and orders all units to move forward across the front, with their faster units attempting to turn the flanks. The deamon magic and shooting is more effective than the elves, taking down a number of reavers, scouts and wounding the Phoenix.
Turn two was the start of the big showdown, the Dragon Lord charged into Pap Nurgle for all the marbles. The Frostheart charged one of the flanking Palaguebearer blocks and the eagle attempted to chaff the other, to protect the dragon from a Nurgle sandwitch. The BSB was sent to the right flank to shore up the defense. The Silver helms then took it on to play with the Soul Grinder to slow it down. More elf shooting and more lack of success…. The big battle in the center commenced with the Dragon Lord getting the upper hand. It seamed the flail was too heavy for Papa Nurgle, as his attack rolls were sub par. The dragon on the other hand was able to get through some blows. The Frostheart also won its fight clearing a rank and pushed back.
Nurgle then came up and continued their flank and pushed the center. The Nurglings charged the eagle to free up the maneuver of the Plaquebearers. The eagle did some damage, but fell to the Nurglings. The second round of the big bad fight went about the same as the first. The Dragon Lord got through some wounds while Papa Nurgle seamed to still have a problem untangling his flail.
The Elves started the turn disappointed that Pap Nurgle was still standing and most of the Nurgle forces were up in their grill. So, the Dragon Lord went forward to finish of the greater deamon, before getting turned into an Elvin sandwich. The BSB flew back to the center to support the general, while the Phoenix flew behind the deamons to try to help with break modifiers on the next turn. The Silver Helms continued to pay with the Soul Grinder and attempted to draw the Beasts out of the center. the Silver Helms reformed and tried some more mostly uneventful shooting, along with the scouts. The offensive magic was once again not very helpful, but the defensive buffs continued to go off. The confidence of the Dragon Lord proved to be misplaced, as he could not clear the last wound on Papa Nurgle, who was still playing with his flail and not getting hits. hooting was again, uneventful….
It was Nurgles turn, also known as sandwich time! The two units of Plaguebearers charged the flanks of the Dragon Lord. Papa Nurgle decided to keep out of this one, to see how his subordinates would fare. The Beasts charged the exposed Silver Helm, just to watch them run away. The Nurglings, being brave beyond their diminutive size, turned around and charged the BSB! The Flys and Furries decided they had played with the Sea Guard long enough and flew to get in range of the mage and Reavers. The Should Grinder continued to send fusillades into the running Silver Helms. The sandwich fight resulted in the loss of a champion and minor win for the charges, but the Dragon Lord just gave ground (we did this wrong, as the unit could not get out of contact, it should not have moved).
Into the forth turn and the grind in the middle was the center piece. The Dragon Lord had finally ate through the champions and was ready to start doing some real damage to the troops. The BSB was still tied up dealing with the chattering Nurglings. The mage and Reavers tried to distance themselves from the Flys and the Silver Helms rallied and danced around the Soul Grinder. The Phoenix was out of position to help with the right fight (charging Papa Nurgle did not seem like a good idea..), so positioned itself for the end game. Shooting and magic was once again not very exciting. The Dragon chomped on a lot of Plaugebeaers, winning the fight and pushing the infantry back.
Nurgle took up the baton and moved forward with the infantry and Papa Nurgle, to see if maybe the combined force could finally deal with the Dragon Lord. The Should Grinder gave up on the Silver Hems and headed toward the scouts in the center. The Flys swept forward to shoot up the last Reavers, with the Should Grinder lending support. The magic ward cast earlier was enough to keep the unit and mage on the table (barely). Papa Nurgle did not fare well and finally went down to the Dragon Lord, pushing the infantry at the same time. The BSB finally finished off the Nurglings, with a few wounds to show for it.
With Pap Nurgle down and the others grizzlies free, it was time to finish off the daemon center. The BSB and Phoenix charged the flanks and rears of the Plagubearers. The mage ran away being the woods to get away from the Flys and buffed up the Silver Helms who tried a charge against the BSB. The scouts fired at the Should Grinder, finally getting a few more wounds. The fight in the center ground forward, with the Plaguebearers falling by the dozen to the big gribble attach, but still holding on. the Silver Helms did not fare well in their assault, as despite their buffed up attacks, failed to do a single wound, but taking it in the chops themselves.
Nurgle was up and decided to leave the infantry to their own devises and try to get some points in other places. The Soul Grinder charged into the scouts and the Furries decided to take on the Sea Guard. The big fight in the middle resulted in one unit of Plaguebearers being wiped out and the other almost also. The Palanquin finished off the silver helms and the Furies died a horrible death on the points of the elven spears. The Should Grinder had his way with the scouts and wiped them out.
It was getting late, so we had to stop at the end of turn five. With all the big gribblies free, it was going to be a charge-o-palooza and turn six was not going to turn that around. It was clear that the elves had won the day (well at least the dragon did). Let’s see what next week’s match up will be!
- Manteuffel