Continuing the theme from last time of playing against old friends, this game I played against my cousin who I’ve known for literally his entire life! We live in different states and I only recently discovered he was into tabletop wargaming. When travelling interstate recently, I jumped at the opportunity for us to have a game!
I took the same High Elf list as the game before against Orcs & Goblins.
## Main Force [2000pts]
**Characters [838pts]**
Archmage [244pts]: High Magic, Wizard Level 4, Elven Steed, Silvery Wand, Ruby Ring of Ruin, Pure of Heart
Noble [291pts]: Shield, Full Plate Armour, Lance, Longbow, Griffon, Battle Standard Bearer, Seed of Rebirth, Talisman Of Protection, Pure of Heart
Prince [303pts]: Shield, Chracian Great Blade, Full Plate Armour, General, Dragon Helm, Seed of Rebirth, Chracian Hunter
– 1x Lion Chariot [125pts]
**Core [516pts]**
Ellyrian Reavers [105pts]: Scouts, Skirmishers
– 5x Ellyrian Reaver [18pts]: Cavalry Spear, Shortbow
2x Elven Archers [100pts]:
– 10x Elven Archer [10pts]
Silver Helms [211pts]:
– 7x Silver Helm [24pts]: Shield
– 1x High Helm [6pts]
– 1x Standard Bearer [31pts]: War Banner
– 1x Musician [6pts]
**Special [281pts]**
Dragon Princes [206pts]:
– 5x Dragon Prince [37pts]
– 1x Drakemaster [7pts]
– 1x Standard Bearer [7pts]
– 1x Musician [7pts]
Shadow Warriors [75pts]: Chariot Runners
– 5x Shadow Warrior [14pts]
**Rare [365pts]**
2x Eagle-Claw Bolt Thrower [80pts]
Frostheart Phoenix [205pts]
My opponent had a infantry-focused Dwarf list.
++ Characters [501 pts] ++
King [279 pts]
(Hand weapon, Great weapon, Full plate armour, General, Shieldbearers, Master Rune of Breaking, Rune of Parrying, 2x Rune of Shielding)Thane [100 pts]
(Hand weapon, Full plate armour, Battle Standard Bearer, Oathstone)Runesmith [72 pts]
(Hand weapon, Great weapon, Full plate armour)Engineer [50 pts]
(Hand weapon, Heavy armour)++ Core Units [526 pts] ++
10 Thunderers [125 pts]
(Hand weapons, Handguns, Heavy armour, Great weapons, Veteran (champion) [Handgun])10 Quarrellers [115 pts]
(Hand weapons, Crossbows, Heavy armour, Great weapons, Veteran (champion) [Crossbow])24 Dwarf Warriors [231 pts]
(Hand weapons, Heavy armour, Shields, Veteran, Standard bearer, Musician)5 Rangers [55 pts]
(Hand weapons, Crossbows, Heavy armour)++ Special Units [841 pts] ++
24 Hammerers [405 pts]
(Hand weapons, Great hammers, Heavy armour, Royal Champion (Up to 25pts of each rune type), Standard bearer, Musician)1 Gyrocopters [70 pts]
(Hand weapons, Clatterguns, Full plate armour (armoured fuselage))10 Miners [166 pts]
(Hand weapons, Great weapons, Heavy armour, Blasting Charges, Prospector (champion) [Steam drill])10 Slayers [200 pts]
(Hand weapons, 10x Giant Slayers, 10x Additional hand weapons)++ Rare Units [125 pts] ++
Flame Cannon [125 pts]
(Fire thrower, Hand weapons, Light armour)
We rolled up a scenario and got The Lonely Tower Hovel. Here’s a photo from early in the deployment. We set up our ranged units diagonally opposite each other, and my cavalry and flying monsters set up opposite his blocks of infantry. It was a very pretty table with a healthy amount of terrain and battlefield decoration. My opponent’s army was beautifully painted is entirely 3D printed! It’s pretty incredible where we’re at with that technology. Particularly as many of the official models are out of production, this really is a great way to get into the game at the moment, or flesh out an old army. (I’ve already put in a request for him to print me some re-inforcements for my own Dwarf army!)
I don’t have a blow-by-blow acccount of the game, but here are some highlights.
The duel between our scouting units, his Rangers versus my Ellyrian Reavers, was a very one-sided affair in favour of the Dwarfs.
The Gyrocopter did well against my Dragon Princes, taking a few of them off with its Clattergun. (Side note: As an abiding Elf player, I was surprised that Dwarfs have a base Ballistic Skill of only 3! Who put the guy who shoots no-better-than a Goblin in charge of the artillery?!)
A (somewhat obvious) observation throughout the game was that the Dwarfs are slow. I’ll go into it in my “Thoughts on the Old World” post, which is currently in draft, but charges, particularly infantry charges, have been so hampered by the changes between 8th edition and The Old World, that it’s tough for a Dwarf army. Without a significant ranged threat, whether it be ballistic kill shooting, warmachines, an Anvil of Doom, or all three, there’s no real need for me to rush to engage. I was able to whittle down the units with my own magic and shooting before bringing my Prince, Archmage and Silverhelms up to fight the King and the Hammerers.
As with the last game against the Goblins, flying monsters with Swiftstride are outrageously fast. My Phoenix and Griffon were smashing through his ranged units on the 2nd turn of the game.
It’s becoming a theme with these battle reports, and probably a testament to how I like to play, I didn’t write down the final score. My opponent brought a well-rounded list, and didn’t bring many war-machines. (The flame cannon feel abysmal in this edition!) I imagine there are ways to bring combat-focused Dwarf lists, but it does feel like war-machines are a staple in strong Dwarf armies. Despite his King and the Hammerers surviving, it was a fairly resounding victory for the Elves. I won by around 1000 Victory Points. Below is a shot from towards the end of the game as the Elves circle the remaining Dwarfs.
