Following the rules for the scenario, as I finished deployment first I got to choose who got first turn. Wary as I was of the large unit of Glade guard opposite my Avatar (particularly their +1 to hit and -3 rend arcane bodkins) i resolved to take first turn.
Turn 1 went pretty much as planned for me, my wild riders on the left flank advanced forward to threaten the great eagle's
and the dragon the knights , both eyeing turn 1 charges (despite the trees that had suspiciously just popped up...)
Shooting and battleshock accounted for 18 Glade guard removing the threat to my Avatar (phew). My wardancers took my left hand objective as well with the eternal guard holding my right.
Finally my Forest dragon got the charge on the knights and promptly ate 4 of the 8.
In response to this onslaught the bloodied but unbowed free peoples advanced stoically across the board, Spearmen moving to threaten my centre and taking my left most objective from the Wardancers by virtue of greater numbers.
Eagle's (who I forgot to charge with the wild riders!!!) flapped over to my Wardancers and proceeded to line up their charge. Shooting was pretty uneventful with the remnants of the Glade guard, stone thrower and cannon all missing their targets. The free people salvaged their turn with a pretty eventful combat phase though.
With piercing cries the eagles tore apart 6 wardancers with 1 eagle being taken down in return as it tried to take flight again
Meanwhile the knights in combat with the dragon had received support from the free guild general (represented by Theoden in this game). Unsurprisingly the dragon laid waste to the knights leaving 1 alive.
More surpringly was the fact "Theoden" not only lived after rolling a 6 on his master of defence save against the dragons gaping maw attack (we like to think Theoden propped open the jaws with his sword), but that he promptly caused a wound with his hoarfrost blade putting the Dragon at -1 to hit for the rest of the game!
I was on 3 points at the end of the turn with the free peoples on 4 after holding 3 objectives, 1 of which was taken from me for an extra point.
Turn 2 began with the Avatar moving to engage the Spearmen, Wild Riders careening forward towards the stone thrower, Dryads moving to charge range of the liberators and Glade guard taking back my left most objective. Shooting was uneventful with the Reavers largely failing to harm the treelord, waywatchers taking a wound off a liberators and avatar spitting 3 Spearmen on the spear of Kurnous.
Between the kurnoth hunters and glade guard though 8 dryads were killed. Charges were made by the Avatar on the Spearmen and Dryads on liberators. The avatar promptly fluffed his attacks (an ongoing theme) and only killed 3 spearmen, the Dryads lost 4 of their numbers to the rightous anger of the liberators, before the Spearmen, with a flurry of stabbing blows took 7 wounds off the avatar leaving him on only 1 wound! The ongoing combat between dragon, Theoden and friends saw the last night get nommed but Theoden remaining unscathed and promptly putting 3 more wounds on the dragon. I was really regretting charging him in alone at this poiny and the -1 to hit caused by the hoarfrost was causing a real issue!
Free Peoples turn 2 saw the block of 12 Dryads in the centre move to threaten my Glade guard, closely followed by the Unforged.
The treelord moved towards the Forest Dragon on my right to bail Theoden out and the artillery on my left shuffled sideways to get away from the approaching wild riders.
In a good turn of events for me shooting from them was again lackluster with the cannon and stone thrower combination only killed 1 wild rider, the crewmen bracing themselves to recieve the charge next turn.
The free people Dryads, picking arrows from their bodies lined up the charge on the Glade Guard who'd just tried to make pin cushions of them.
Combat started with the Spearmen attempting to finish off the Avatar. The phoenix stone had restored 1 wound in the free peoples hero phase but I wasn't confident 2 wounds was going to survive 15 spear attacks. The dice were rolled and 5 wounds were inflicted on the Avatar. I'll admit i thouhjt this was the end...especially after failing the 1st 4+ save (forgetting to roll master of defence as well) I rolled the remaining 4 saves 1 at a time and somehow made the rest! Phew! Bowed but not broken the avatar struck back but, perhaps feeling the pain of his wounds, again fluffed his attacks only killing 3 Spearmen. In the Dryads v Liberators no Dryads were killed but 1 liberator was dragged down in return. The free peoples dryads enraptured the glade guard giving them a bonus to hit but poor dice meant only 5 were lost. Imspiring presence from the avatar meant battleshock wasnt an issue. Finally with the Treelord breathing down his neck the Glade Lord on Forest Dragon finally got his act together and managed to hit twice with the gaping maw attacks (claws all missed). 1 attack was saved but the other got through to inflict 5 wounds, promptly ending Theodens stubborn resistance!
At the end of turn 2 no objectives had changed hands so the score became 6 - 5 to the Free Peoples.
Turn 3 began with units embroiled in combat across the board. The Reavers moved to intercept the onrushing treelord, desperate to protect the wounded and disoriented Forest Dragon.
The eternal guard shuffled forward to charge the Dryads in support of the beleaguered Glade guard (although I subsequently forgot to charge d'oh!)
In the shooting phase the the only thing of note was the Kurnoth Hunters putting 3 bolts straight into the Unforged approaching the eternal guard, killing him outright.
Combat saw the Forest Dragon charging the approaching treelord who promptly ensnared him in tangling branches inflicting a further penalty to hit. The Kurnoth Hunters charged into the Spearmen to save the struggling avatar, along with the remaining Wardancers whilst the Wild Riders charged head long into the stone thrower.
The Avatar at this point finally got his act together killing six Spearmen, and with the phoenix stone and cloak of Isha kicking in at the start of the Wood elf turn restored a further 2 wounds, was starting to look like his old self. In response the Spearmen fluffed their attacks and were promptly wiped out by a combination of the kurnoth hunters and battleshock.
The free people Dryads continued tearing apart the glade guard, although once again battleshock wasn't an issue thanks to another inspiring presence at the start of the turn from the Avatar. In response the Wood Elf Dryads finally got their act together (supported earlier in the turn by shooting from the nearby Waywatchers) and took down another of the liberators. Battleshock at the end of the turn saw another flee the field. The wild riders decimated the stone thrower crewmen but remained locked in place with the war machine.
The clash of Titans between forest dragon and treelord was entirely one sided. A combination of the ongoing effects of hoarfrost and tangling branches saw the dragon and glade lord missing with all his attacks. In response the treelord promptly knocked a further 4 wounds off him reducing him to 3, luckily the follow up impale attack was saved!
Free peoples turn 3 saw the Avatar restore another wound but then lose it again to an arcane bolt from the Battle mage. The branch wych cast mystic shield on the treelord before moving to support the war machines in combat with the wild riders. Shooting saw the free peoples cannon missing the wild riders entirely and the treelord stanglethorn missing the forest forest dragon. Onto combat and the Dryads continued their decimation of the Glade guard for no losses in return. The wood elf Dryads in response finished off the remaining Liberator, freeing them up to seek the nearby battle mage in turn 4.
Finally in the "clash of Titans" the treelord and Forest dragon continued flailing ineffectually at each other.
Turn 3 ended with 2 objectives each again moving the score to 8-7 to the Free Peoples.
With the closing time of the store fast approaching I think we stopped taking alot of photos around this point
Turn 4 saw me trying to claw back the one point deficit before the game ended. With us playing the mission slightly wrong we were both under the impression that the only unit capable of taking any of the objectives was the eternal guard (by virtue of having greater numbers). To this end they marched across the board, falling just short of the free peoples objective.
In the shooting phase the legendary marksmanship of the wood elves failed with the Waywatchers, remaining Glade guard, and kurnoth hunters all missing their targets.
Combat saw the Avatar charge into the free people Dryads and the wood elf Dryads charging the battlemage.
The avatar slew 3 Dryads (continuing his streak of hitting with only 1 of his close combat attacks all game!) and the Dryads took down another few Glade guard in response. Both units passed their subsequent battleshock tests however. The wood elf Dryads saw their mugging of the battle mage back fire by missing all their attacks and losing 1 of their number in return. Finally "the clash of Titans" once again proved underwhelming with the crippled forest dragon missing the treelord again but the treelord only inflicting one wound in response, again fluffing his impale attack. On the left the wild riders finally broke free of the stone thrower.
With their numbers dwindling the free peoples attempted to dig in. With little to no movement to speak of the stage was set for the cannon to do something, lining up a shot on the regenerating avatar, the shot hit home but unfortunately failed to wound. The free people crewing it had some serious questions to answer after this game!
Combat saw the free people Dryads continue plugging away at the glade guard. The avatar broke his streak and failed to either hit or wound with any of his attacks this time. The battlemage continued his battle with the Dryads, fending off the crazed forest spirits for another turn. Finally the forest dragon and treelord once again missed with everything (He was hitting on 6's at this point!).
At the end of turn 4 the game was still finely balanced at 10-9 to the Free Peoples, but with their numbers dwindling it was going to take a miracle for them to prevent a wood elf victory in the final turn.
Turn 5 began with the Eternal Guard moving to take the free peoples objective 2. Granting two points if I could hold it but giving up their hold on their original objective.
With time running out and nothing else really of importance at this stage of the game we skipped straight to combat. The Avatar finally finished the last of the Dryads, with the help of the Kurnoth hunters and the central wood elf Dryads continued ineffectually pawing at the free people battlemage, losing another of their number to his stave. Finally with the forest dragon once again missing with everything (He was hitting on 6's at this point!) The tree lord finally got his act together and put the dragon out of it's misery with his sweeping blows, setting him up for a charge into the Eternal Guard next turn!
With time rapidly running out the free peoples last turn was streamlined to just the important elements with the cannon taking out a couple of eternal guard and the Treelord strangle root attack killing a couple more. Lining up what would have been a devastating last charge on the Eternal guard I blew a sigh of relief as the Treelord cake up short on charging them!
So with that the game ended and scores were as follows: 12-11 to the Wood Elves!
The final turn objective grab by the eternal guard saw them claim 2 points but relinquish their hold on their original objective. This tied the game but with the extra point from my holding of my other objective it put the Wood Elves over the top by the skin of their teeth!
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