The Raid to Rescue Caradryan

Caradryan the Silent has been captured by the hideous beastmen for use in one of their foul sacrifices. Caradryan is a great elven hero and must be rescued at all costs. Lomsec the mage has assembled a force to attack the tower and save Caradryan's soul from being condemned forever to the Realm of Chaos. Meanwhile, Yohan the necromancer has received word from his ally Malagor the Dark Omen, beastman shaman, that the beastmen are outnumbered and need reinforcements. Yohan summons a small unit of skeletons and marches quickly to aid his evil ally and punish the hated elves. Will they arrive in time?

The forces:
Beastmen: Malagor the Beastman shaman - Level 15, poison fangs, poison claws.
Bazor the beastman champion: Level 15, Frostblade, Magically Inscribed Armour and Protective runes. Various mutations, including obesity, extra toughness (T7!) and, crucially, stupidity!
14 beastmen with razor sharp claws, and hideous mutations giving them an especially fearsome appearance.

The elves: Lomsec the level 15 mage, 5 silverhelms, two groups of 16 spear-armed warrior kindred (the green and blue) and 12 archers.

The undead relief force: Yohan the level 5 necromancer and 20 skeletons.

The beastmen defend the tower to the left, the elves approach from the right.
The skeletons are expected to march up from the bottom along the road.
Malagor is atop the tower.

Bazor the Beast leads his unit aimlessly, tempting the silver helms
to charge - and they did!

The skeleton reinforcements advance.

Bazor started off the battle by going stupid. He led his unit forward, drooling and scratching his behind. Malagor summoned 8 lesser demons. The silver helms tried to charge the mutant beastmen, but couldn't summon the nerve. Soon after the beastmen, still being led by stupid Bazor, wandered of to their right, completely exposing their flank. The silverhelms duly charged in and a bloody melee developed. Lomsec cast a fireball at the demons, killing 3. The silverhelms fought several rounds of combat against the beasts before they routed and all died to the victorious elves free hacks - except for Bazor, who managed to escape howling into the wilderness, not sure what had happened but very angry about it. The silver helms overran into the demons and started another melee, the blue warrior kindred quickly joined in as well. Under the combined assault the demons quickly evaporated. At this point, the skeletons on the road from the south arrived, led by Yohan. Were they in time?  Yohan quickly summoned a skeleton champion, then charged his unit into the spearmen. Yohan quickly went down, but the skeletons persevered under the leadership of their new champion.

The elves attack Malagor, Caradryan lies bound in the
foreground.

At the tower, the blue elf kindred burst open the door and four interpid elves charged into the tower. More elves kept piling in every turn, and untied Caradryan. He borrowed a weapon and shield from a trooper, and fought a heroic one on one duel with Malagor. They fought several rounds until Caradryan struck a nasty wound to his erstwhile captor. Malagor snarled his rage and cast a spell. He disappeared in a puff of noxious smelling smoke and was nowhere to be found. The skeletons had meanwhile lost their champion, then faded in a bout of instability. The elves had rescued their comrade, defeated the beasts and slaughtered the relief troops as well. A major victory for the high elves.

Thoughts: The crucial part of this battle was when I rolled the stupidity mutation for Bazor. Otherwise with his magic items and helpful mutations, he was the most bad-arsed killing machine on the table. But once he was stupid, he never managed to get into combat personally and his unit was routed while he tried to figure out what was going on. The whims of Chaos! A fun scenario game, I enjoyed it.

Revenge is a dish best served bloody

Still smarting from their last trouncing by the Elves, the Undead realized they needed to really shake things up. I have a house rule for solo gaming: the losing army can completely change their army list, by the winners have to use the same as before. So the Undead booted out Vlad and his dragon, and Skullgore the undead hero took the helm. Here's the lists:

Elves: Same as last time; Telor+Griffon, Lomsec the level 15 mage, 2 units of 14 warrior kindred with champion (blue spearmen and green spearmen), great weapon kindreds with champ and archers with champion. 55 figures.

The Undead: 3 units of skeletons, two of 20, one of 10. All had level 15 champions armed with hell-honed blades. Two units of 20 zombies with champions, 20 ghouls with champion and Skullgore with Frostblade and Magically Inscribed Armour. Very useful gear! 117 figures total.

The battlefield laid out.

The Battle: Turn 1: Both armies advanced on each other.
Turn 2: Skullgore and his skeletons routed and slaughtered the great weapon kindred with free hacks. This panicked the Green Spearmen who left the table.
Turn 3: Telor fought against skeletons, causing instability which removed four. Skullgore, his skeletons and another unit put a serious beating on the blue spear kindreds.
Turn 4: Lomsec, on his third attempt (missing twice before due to range) ran right up to Skullgores unit and cast Steal Mind. Being undead, Skullgore didn't get a magic save and was instantly effected. He became mindless for the rest of the game. Telor, fighting againt skeletons, zombies and ghouls was finally routed and fled the table. He's really good at that, and people once more started calling him "Telor the Coward".
Turns 5 and 6: The archers launched two more volleys on skeletons, but just barely missed destroying a unit. Turn 6, game over. My first 3rd edition game to go all 6 turns. The undead had remaining Skullgore (mindless for another turn), 3 out of 5 undead champions, 24 out of 50 skeletons, 36 out of 40 zombies and 20/20 ghouls.
The elves however had only Lomsec and 13 archers left, all three units of warrior kindred and Telor having been killed or fled.

Thoughts: A very fun game, it lasted long enough, and it's fun to see the undead win again.

The battlefield at the end of turn 6.

Going Commando

I'm going commando for this battle - that's right, no movement trays! Takes me right back to my earliest fun with Warhammer. I was inspired by reading the old White Dwarf battle reports on http://realmofchaos80s.blogspot.com/ to run a battle a little bigger than my recent ones, so here's a 2000 point battle between the High Elves and my trusty Undead. I don't have enough figures to do 3000 points.

Archers on the Hill, Blue Spearmen, Swordmasters, Telor on Griffon, Green Spearmen

High Elf List: Telor, Level 25 hero on his Griffon. Armed with a Freeze Sword, an extremely deadly weapon. Lomsec the mage, level 15. Fourteen warrior kindred armed with spears with champion (blue spearmen), Fourteen warrior kindred armed with spears and  champion (the green spearmen, twins of the blue), 10 warrior kindred armed with double handed weapons and champion (the swordmasters) and finally 12 archers with a champion. I can't remember what level the champions were, but they were all the same. 54 figures.

20 Zombies, 20 Zombies, Vlad on Dragon, 21 sword skeletons,
21 spear skeletons, 20 ghouls.

The Undead: Vlad on his dragon, level 20 vampire and level 1 dragon. Two skeleton units of 21 figures each, each led by a level 5 hero. Two units of 20 zombie and one of 20 ghouls, each led by a level 5 undead hero. Nobody had any magic items. 108 figures.

The Battle: Turn 1: The deathless legions advanced en masse, all along the line. Vlad bravely flew his dragon directly into the swordmasters. Many died from desicating dragon breath (an appropriate breath weapon for a dragon ridden by a vampire). However in the ensuing combat the swordmasters managed a draw. Telor atop his griffon then charged into Vlad and attacked him with his mighty Freeze sword - instant kill! The dragon then routed off the table. First turn and the undeads greatest asset was destroyed.

Turn 2: The Elves sounded the advance and all units except the green spearmen charged (the green spearmen never saw any action all battle). The blue spearmen pushed back their skeletal enemies, while the swordmasters were pushed back by their bony foes. Telor and his griffon routed a zombie unit, and in the free hacks totally wiped them out. This panicked the other zombies who routed and fled off the table. Mighty Telor had destroyed half the undead army in two turns, a hero whose glory will surely never fade.

Turn 3: The ghouls charged into the archers, but were quickly routed. The other combats continued with no clear winners.

Turn 4: One unit of skeletons was finally destroyed by the blue spears. The other was charged in the rear by Telor, and caught between him and the swordmaster elves. 

The Aftermath: At this point only one skeleton and one level 5 undead hero remained. The elvish army was almost completely intact, except for the swordmasters who had nearly been destroyed by Vlad, but managed to hold on against their skeleton enemies.

So that's it! I enjoy the rules, playing without movement trays was very fun and old school, and a good time was had by all (i.e. me). You'd think it'd bother me that some armies seem to always win, but in all 5 of the versions of warhammer I've played that has always been the case. I love my Undead so much I'll play them anytime, win, lose, or embarassing slaughter.

Assault on the Tower of Sorcery

After his loss to the horrible high elves, Yohan fled for refuge into his Tower of Sorcery. The Tower is cloaked in a shroud of darkness making missile, magic or flying into it impossible. The tower also allows any wizard within to cast spells far farther than normal.

The elves have pursued Yohan to his tower to prevent him regrouping and forming another army.

The armies: High Elves: Telor "the Coward", level 25 atop his griffon. Lomsec, level 15 wizard. 16 Archers (BS 5!), and 16 warrior kindred, 1097 pts and 34 figures.

Telor on griffon, archers, warrior kindred.

The Undead: Skullgore the level 25 undead hero with his Sword of Ferocity (+1A), Yohan the level 15 necromancer, two level 15 undead champions, 30 skeletons and 30 zombies. 1081 pts and 64 figures.

Skeletons with Skullgore, Yohan atop his tower, zombies with undead champion.

Telor ordered his army to advance. The archers marched forward a short distance, then let fly wave after wave of arrows into the zombies as they shambled forward. Most of the zombies were killed, but a few entered combat. The undead champion inflicted a wound on Lomsec, but Lomsec finished him off with a blast of fireballs at point blank range. The warrior kindred assaulted the skeletons, fighting back and forth for several turns. Skullgore, despite being a level 25 hero, did his best to miss almost every time, even with his extra attack! Telor then charged the skeleton unit in the flank, and between him, his griffon and the warrior kindreds, the skeletons were pushed back until they were forced to take an instability test and faded from physical reality. Yohan knew he was doomed, so ran out the towers secret passage, cursing his luck and planning revenge on the elves who had defeated him.

Thoughts: I like how griffons and some other critters work: You roll on a chart for each stat to see what you get, so not all griffons are created equal!

The end of the game. The skeletons had no physical substance
and were incapable of causing harm after a terrible instability
roll.

Third Edition and Revenge of the Elves

I got my Third Edition books in the mail the other day! What better way to celebrate than a little tabletop slaughter?

Yohan the Necromancer has been magically preparing the Lonely Graveyard for weeks with countless incantations and dweomers. Soon this vast repository of charnal might will arise and swell his army to gigantic proportions. But the High Elves know all about their plans, informed by the birds and beasts of necrotic activity. So Lomsec the Elvish wizard leads a strike force to thwart the undeads plans. Yohan summons his ally Skullgore and the skeletons and zombies he currently has, and battle is joined!

The lonely graveyard. Ten skeletons with Skullgore on the left, 20 zombies with Yohan on the right. The elvish archers and just behind the hill on the left (with Lomsec) , the Shore Riders behind the forest on the right. 

 Yohan summons an undead hero to bolster his zombie unit. The Shore Riders kill 2 zombies with their bows, while the archers (with Bs 5!) kill 4 skeletons. Yohan set his zombies marching directly to the Shore Riders, while Skullgore sent his skeletons marching into the woods to get some cover. Yohan kept summoning zombies to replace losses from archer fire, and found time to cast Hand of Death on himself. Lomsec and his archers kept on the hill. Lomsec cast Leg Break on Skullgore, slowing him down to half movement, meaning his skeletons would take even more punishment from the archers atop the hill as they approched. In the end he elected to simply stay put in the woods the rest of the game. Better to do nothing than be slaughtered for no reason! But there was more action on the right: the Shore Riders charged the zombies and a bitter battle was started. Yohan killed one Shore Rider with his hand of death, but the elves did just enough wounds to win every round of combat. The worst thing for the undead was that every lost combat resulted in an Instability test which cost them many zombies, including their standard bearer, until Yohan fled for safety leaving his zombies to die again.

Victory for the High Elves! A long time coming. Lomsec doused the Lonely Graveyard liberally with holy water and magical blessings, ensuring it could not easily be used to stage any mass raising of undead. Yohan fled into the wilderness, plotting his revenge...

Thoughts: So I've played Third Edition! There's a lot of rules in there, I'm sure I got all sorts of things wrong but its ok because it was still fun. I'll try and polish up my rules knowledge a bit and continue the Elf/Undead saga of this blog. Thanks for reading!

Raging Elves, and incompetence.

The Elves demand vengeance! Having lost so many innocent elves to early deaths, so much prancing and mincing wasted, the elves formed a particularly bad-arsed army to attack the undead and their hated zombie dragon. The elves: Lomsec the Level 4 wizard with Sword of Degeneration, Caradryan with his sword of strength, 16 archers with arrows of potentcy, two units of 16 spearelves and 10 swordmasters, S:5.

Lomsec with 16 archers garrison a tower on the Elven right flank.

Spears, swordmasters, more spears. The tower is on the hill on the left.

Facing them: Vlad on his Dragon, two units of 30 skeletons each, 30 zombies and 10 ghouls.

Zombies, skels, skels, zombie dragon.

The Elven strategy was simple: Kill that dragon! With S6,T6, W10 and 6A it was by far the undeads greatest asset, and if killed left very few problems for the elves to face...of course, killing it could be a problem.

Before the battle even started, Lomsec cast Aura of Invulnerability on himself, letting him ignore his first 4 wounds. As the horns rang to start the battle, all the archers shot at the dragon. Their arrows of potentcy gave S4 elf-bows +1S, but only caused a single wound on the dragon. Then Lomsec cast Blast on the dragon for d6 S8 wounds, but only rolled a 1 followed by a 1 to wound, meaning no damage! Bad luck for the elves. The dragon then charged the archers. Lomsec fought Vlad with his Sword of Degeneration and scored a wound. This meant that at the start of every turn, Vlad would take a wound on a roll of 6. This never happened at all in the game. The vampire and dragon fought the elves atop the tower, and then a spearelf unit charged the dragon as well. However in the end the archers were killed, the spears routed, and Lomsec was MIA. Vlad spent the next while turning his lumbering steed about to charge fresh targets. In the center of the battlefield, the swordmasters fought skeletons and ghouls, holding their ground bravely and routing the ghouls.

Then, out of the flaming wreckage of the tower, emerged a haggard figure: It was Lomsec! Following a roll on the character causalty table it turned out he had only suffered a concussion. Back in the battle he cast a major spell: Cause Instability. Every undead unit had to roll under its will power or face a roll on the instability chart. Every undead unit failed its willpower roll and was forced to face instability. The zombies and one unit of skeletons dissappeared, while the remaining skeletons lost several members of their unit. Vlad was unaffected. This is why I put "incompetence" in the title of this post: If Lomsec had cast that spell earlier things might have been different. His luck didn't last, he was soon roasted by dragon fire. After this the game was over and I called it a day. Here's a look at what was left:

The only units left: Zombie Dragon, Sword Masters, Skeletons.

The sword masters were doing fine against the skeletons. The zombie dragon would need a turn to face them, then another turn to charge. The swordmasters decided that discretion was the better part of valour and retreated in good order before having to fight the dragon, and held their heads high having won a moral, if not an actual victory.

The Haunted Town of Twindle

First an admission/apology...lately I've been playing warhammer...eighth! Shameful, of course. Seriously though, every version of warhammer has its own good bits, and GW has a lot of resources these days to design, playtest and edit new rules. Something GW didn't have back in the 80's. But I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't enjoy the charm and character of warhammer before it was owned by stockholders who have never played a game in their life. But on to the important stuff...The Battle of the Haunted Town of Twindle, Second Edition style!

The elvish town of Twindle was once quite prosperous, sitting on a crossroads that linked several major population centers. Until, that is, the local cemetery became possessed with a horde of malicious spirits, whose wailing was enough to freeze the marrow of even the bravest elf. Vlad the Vampie atop his mighty dragon seeks to control these spirits and add them to his army, while the Elves, led by Caradryan, have come to free their town of all undead.

The abandoned town of Twindle 

The terrifying ghosts within.

Notes: Vlad the Vampire uses the stats of a major chaos hero, making him much, much cheaper than a vampire. He rides a dragon with all the official stats.

Rules: The ghosts randomly attack elf units, causing them to take a Cool test. Failure makes them rout. However, every elf has been given a holy amulet that, if placed within the cemetery, dispels the ghosts and forces all undead units to take a roll on the instability table every turn.

The armies: Elves led by Caradryan, two units of 16 spear elves, Lomsec the level 4 mage with 7 skirmishing archers. The undead led by Vlad on his zombie dragon, two units of 30 skeletons, and Yohan the level 3 necromancer. 1500 point armies.

The elves prepare their assault.

The undead guard the cemetery.

The Battle: The dragon flew up to Caradryans unit and killed 8 with his dragon breath. Yohan summoned 12 ghouls. A skeleton unit routed some elven spearmen. Vlad challenged Caradryan, both Vlad and his dragon did one wound each. The elves were pushed back and needed a 9 or lower to stand, but rolled a 12. In the first turn the two biggest elf units were already routing! I gave each a bonus leadership test and both failed them. The elves failed almost every test they had to take all game.  Lomsec successfully cast Cause Instability on a unit of skeletons, but only caused one to disappear.  Both spear units fled the battlefield. Lomsec and his elf archers separated, each trying to run past the undead from a different direction to reach the cemetery. Then the ghosts appeared before Lomsec. He needed a ten or under to pass his Cool test and rolled a 12, another failed test! He routed off the table.

The Host of Ghosts terrify Lomsec the mage.

Yohan then cast a lightining bolt killing 5 elf archers, leaving two. They passed their panic test, the only good luck the elves had all game. Desperate, the elves sprinted towards the graveyard. Skeletons charged them...and failed by two inches! Then the dragon charged them...and also failed its charge! However, the dragon breathed fire on the poor elves, killing them both easily. The undead had won a complete victory.

Thoughts: The elves would have had a much, much better chance of winning if they hadn't failed almost every test they had to take. Still, they held on for several turns after I thought they were done. In the end a fun game, with a few different rules to mix things up a bit.

The Battle for the Bridge to Nowhere

From the south: Vlad on Zombie Dragon, two units
of thirty skeletons and 20 ghouls.

From the North: 12 archers
with a level 4 wizard and major hero,
5 Dragon Princes and Telor atop his Griffon.

A road from nowhere in particular to someplace else, probably the middle of nowhere. A nameless bridge over a river with no name. And two armies ready to kick butt! It's warhammer time. This is a 2000 point battle, second edition style. The zombie dragon is my own stats, scaled down from the nearly invincible monster in the battle bestiary. The elves spent most of their points on a level 4 wizard and two major heroes. Caradryan, a hero, has an amazing Sword of Magic Absorbtion that not only eliminates any spells cast at his unit, but powers up his attacks by up to +4 to hit and to-wound! No ones going to be casting spells at that unit, you can count on that. I rolled for magic weapons randomnly, including Vlads sword of Breathe Underwater. What, people in the 80's would pay points for that? Might come in handy if his dragon dies and lands in the river...;)

The Game Begins: The elven wizard casts cause instability on a unit of skellies - 2 are absorbed back into the Flux. Vlad then charged Telor, and fought a ferocious battle for several turns. Fights take a long time with matched Ws, needing 5's for a hit. The dragon princes (also my own stats) charged across the bridge at the skeletons, but had to narrow their frontage to make it across. This meant less attacks and a draw against the skellies. On the next undead turn instability struck the army! The spear armed skeletons lost all substance and were removed from the table. The other skeleton unit was luckier and simply lost 6 figures. Vlad atop his zombie dragon routed Telor on his griffon and chased him off the table. Vlad then summoned a new unit of 20 skeletons right behind the elven archers. The archers were unphased and shot at the ghouls, killing six of them and causing the rest to panic. Lomsec the elven wizard cast cause instability at the summoned skeletons, but they resisted, even with their meager will power. The summoned skeletons charged the elven archers, lost three to defensive fire and scored a draw in the subsequent combat. In the game winning move, Vlad and his Zombie dragon charged the Dragon Princes in the rear and killed all 5 of them at once. Then things looked like this:

Blue Elven archers on the left fight skeletons to their
front, and are about to be charged by ghouls from the
rear. The huge, triumphant zombie dragon perches on
the bridge, hungry for more elves.

With only 1 elf unit left, things looked pretty hopeless so the surviving elven heroes did the only sensible thing and ran away. But at least they got a good story out of it.

Spring, Year 2

Telor spent the winter vigorously recruiting new elves, and his army now stands at 32 spear elves, 10 sea elves, 16 archers, 10 great swords, and the hero Caradryan. Yohan the necromancer used all his magical might to summon a long dead vampire from his restless sleep, Vlad the Slayer, riding atop his mighty zombie dragon. The effort cost Yohan a great deal of his magical power that would take months to regain, but as the armies drew up around the southern town of Waking Nightmare, would Vlad arrive?

Rules note: Vlad on his Zombie dragon arrives at the start of an undead turn if a 5 or 6 is rolled on a d6.

Vlad atop his Zombie Dragon...cool figure!

To Yohans delight, Vlad and his mighty dragon arrived at the very beginning of the battle! Yohan attempted to cast 2 fireballs at the sea elves, but the fireballs landed far short. Vlad summoned 22 skeletons. The sea elves shot at the zombie dragon but all 10 of them missed. However, Lomsec the elven mage hit the dragon with a lightning bolt causing it one wound. The zombie dragon then charged a unit of spearelves and Telor on his Hippogriff.  In the ensuing combat the zombie dragon tore the head off the hippogriff with one mighty mauling. Telor fell to the ground and pulled his favourite maneuver - running away! Vlad then cast "Total Control", allowing him to control undead anywhere on the battlefield and prevent them from becoming stupid. The Sea Elves killed 6 skeletons with shots from their elf-bows, and then the archers killed 2 more. The spearelves fought bravely against the dragon giving it one wound, but received 4 in return. Lomsec cast Zone of Steadfastness, affecting one spear unit, giving them x3 attacks. The zombies led by Yohan charged into the sea elves, eventually routing them. The zombie dragon defeated all the spearelves plus the elves armed with greatswords, only taking a few wounds in the process. Only the archer elves managed to retreat off the battlefield in good order.

Vlad and his dragon pursue the few remaining elves.

Thoughts: A vampire on a zombie dragon is powerful...too powerful! The elves took so many causalties they had no choice but to concede the campaign. If their entire army can barely touch the zombie dragon/vampire combo, then half an army has very little chance. So Vlad the Slayer has won the second lost valley campaign. I've made up more reasonable stats for zombie dragons (that cost half as many points) so hopefully in future battles things will be a little more balanced.

The Battle of Loudons Farm - Summer, Year 1

The undead having won the last battle, they advance north up the valley and attempt to conquer the elvish Loudons farm.

Skirmishing archers, the elvish right flank.

The summoned skeletons from last game, zombies and
Yohan the necromancer in the background.

As usual, the elvish archers started things off by shooting and killed 2 zombies. Lomsec the elven mage cast Zone of Steadfastness, which gives all allies within a 6" radius x3 attacks and +1 save. However, he cannot move or cast another spell without dispelling his zone. Yohan cast Hand of Death, powering up his melee abilities. The archers all missed on their next turn. Yohan cast four fireballs at the elvish spearmen, killing 5 and forcing the entire unit to flee in panic. Things were not looking good for the elves. The archers got their act together and killed 3 skeletons. Telor flew his loyal Hippogriff to land just inside Lomsecs Zone of Steadfastness. Yohan then made what was the most pivotal move in the game: He and his zombies charged Telor. Telor challenged Yohan to a duel, which was accepted. Telor, being in Lomsecs magical zone, had 3 times the normal attacks, as did his hippogriff. In one turn he caused 4 wounds on Yohan, removing him from the game. This left the undead army leaderless, subject to stupidity and without their only powerful figure. It was over. Telor harried the zombies off the table, while the archers, also in the Zone of Steadfastness, made short work of the skeletons who didn't manage to cause a single wound.

The Aftermath: The elves lost 2 spear elves. The undead lost 6 skeletons and 15 zombies. Since Yohan lost all his wounds in the battle, he had to roll on the hero causalty table. A simple d100 roll would reveal a result that could range from a mild concussion to out right death. It turns out that Yohan lost his left arm. Not a big deal for a necromancer (a right-handed necromancer) but the worst part was that Yohan would not be able to fight for the rest of the season. The elves moved south, reconquering the Bridge of Destiny, and then in the Autumn they took the undeads Cursed Farm in the south of the valley, virutally unopposed. Then winter came, Yohan eventually recovered from his limb loss, and each army had a season to buy new troops, ready for spring and the new campaigning season.

Battle of the Bridge of Destiny - Spring, Year 1

Wouldn't it be cool to have terrain this awesome?

The inaugural battle of Lost Valley Campaign II begins. The elven archers start things off by killing two zombies, then Lomsec the elven mage killed three with a lightning bolt. Yohan the Unpleasant summoned 17 skeletons. The cool thing here is that unlike the last campaign, Yohan is using Summon Skeleton Horde instead of Raise Dead. He can only summon skeletons, but they don't automatically crumble at the end of every battle, so he can actually increase the size of his army as the battles progress. We'll just have to see if this makes a difference. Lomsec then cast a Steal Mind spell on Yohan, powering it up with 10 extra constitution points. Yohan, taking no chances used 10 points to power his will save and resisted the spell. The advancing zombies then crossed the bridge, while Yohan cast Hand of Death. This would allow him to cause an automatic wound for every hit. The spear elves then charged the zombies while Telor on his Hippogriff charged the summoned skeletons. The spear elves killed 2 zombies, while Yohan - with Hand of Death - killed 3 elves. The elves routed and fled off the table next turn. Telor had better luck, pushing back the skeletons. At this point Telor realized the game was over and retreated with his few surviving allies - Lomsec and 4 archers. The undead were left in possession of the bridge of destiny!

Causalties: 8 elves dead or fled for good. Two zombies gone as well. However, 12 of the skeletons that Yohan summoned were still standing, and can be used in the next battle.

Lost Valley Campaign II - The Elves Strike Back

100 Years have passed since Telor the elf fled the sack of castle Hawkzen, letting his comrades die horrible deaths at the undead hands of Nagashors undead army. But much has changed in the past century. Telor got a job bussing tables at the roughest elven tavern in Lothern (so rough that elves sometimes forget to prance about), worked his way to manager, then became leader of an army. Now he seeks to reconquer the Lost Valley for the elves, and his own honour.

Nagashor ruled his Lost Valley for many decades. He taught a promising pupil named Yohan everything he knew about necromancy, but closely guarded the secrets of rug-hooking. Eventually Yohan used his necromancy to slay Nagashor, but never learned how to make a single stitch on a rug.

The Armies
Elves - Telor with Sword of Multiple Toughness Gain (+2 wounds), on a Hippogriff. Lomsec the Level 2 wizard. 16 Elven spearmen, 4 elven archers who skirmish.

Telor, Sir Fly-Away

Lomsec with his Skirmishing Archers. They REALLY know how to prance. 

Undead
Yohan the Unpleasant with his mega-sword of Leadership Drain, Multiple Attacks Gain (+3) and Sleep Attack (send a foe within 4" to sleep). He leads 32 zombies, with the ability to summon more skeletons that he can use in future battles.

Yohan the Unpleasant with his Horde of Bad Hygiene.

First Battle - The Bridge of Destiny!

The Battle of Nurfalor Village

Ignatius the Necromancer summoned his horde to fight Goroth the Chaos Lord for control of Nurfalor village, and its vast treasures of bouncy balls and plaid ribbons.

The Undead: Ignatius Level 3 necromancer, 15 Skeleton Minor Heroes, 30 Skeletons and 20 Ghouls. Versus:

Chaos: Major Chaos Hero Goroth, Azgul the level 2 wizard, 12 goblins led by no less then three minor goblin heroes (forced to take part by the threat of a mighty Wedgy of Khorne), and ten chaos warriors, who in second edition have 2 attacks and two wounds. Nasty! 1000 points a side.

Ghouls, skeletons, skeleton heroes.

Goblins with 3 heroes, chaos warriors with major hero and wizard.

The yellow pawns mark faded units - no attacks!

Chaos warriors fleeing ghouls.

Azgul the chaos wizard casts cause frenzy on his unit of chaos warriors. Frenzy makes you charge heedlessly, and get double attacks, but even if you want frenzy you still have to fail a Cool test, not likely with a Cool of 10! Ignatius then cast Hand of death on himself. Should he enter melee, any hits would become wounds automatically. Azgul cast a lightning bolt killing 3 skeletons. Ignatius raised a unit of 16 skeletons. The goblins manage to pass their fear test and charge the summoned skeletons, a minor miracle. Must have been worried about the Khorne wedgy, or worse, the Spicy Chili of Nurgle. The goblins even pushed the skeletons back. Then a game changing disaster struck: Instability! Every undead unit had to roll for a random and probably bad result: The unit of skeleton heroes AND the unit of skeletons faded from reality, leaving only their images behind. No attacks allowed, effectively useless for the rest of the game.  But the luck wasn't all one sided as the ghouls charged the chaos warriors who failed a fear test on a roll of 12 (only needed a 10) and ran. Ignatius summoned a unit of 27 skeletons that fought and routed the goblins. His next spell raised 27 zombies. The chaos warriors rallied, then failed their cool test and became frenzied! They charged the zombies and caused 20 wounds, and made the rest of the zombies flee. They then lost frenzy, and the ghouls and remaining skeletons charged them. A hard fight followed, but the ghouls ran at the first sign of trouble and the skeletons were slowly ground to dust. Victory to the forces of Chaos. The unhappy village of Nurfalor becomes a dreaded Chaos stronghold. The end.

P.S. It was fun to play a one off battle with different forces after my campaign ended.

Autumn, Year 2 - Siege of Castle Hawkzen

Castle Hawkzen besieged.

The undead legions inexorably marched down the lost valley until they had besieged the elves in their castle. The elves were surrounded with no way out, and they had to win to survive. They were their kingdoms only hope.

The brave defenders.

The elven archers fired a deadly volley of arrows, killing a bat swarm. Nozalor the mage cast fireball, which destroyed the other bat swarm as well. Nagashor summoned a Skeleton Major Hero into his unit to help with storming the gate. Zombies charged the north wall and managed to take it, pushing the elven defenders back. This was not good, the siege had barely started and the enemy was all ready within the walls.

Zombies swarm over the poorly defended north wall.

Nagashor summoned 27 skeletons, creating a massive force before the castles gates. Telor on his Hippogriff sortied over the castle walls and engaged some ghouls, but was routed and fled right off the table. The seaguard defending the east wall were then also overrun by zombies.

Zombies swarm into Castle Hawkzens courtyard.

Ghouls then stormed the western wall as well. The final nail in the coffin was when the two units of skeletons assaulted and took the main gate. All was confusion in doomed Castle Hawkzen. There was nowhere to flee, and every single elf was slaughtered and turned into unliving thralls. Only Telor on his Hippogriff survived, having fled long and far several turns ago. Nagashor became the unquestioned ruler of the lost valley, ruling a kingdom of unending death.

Of course, ruling over an entire kingdom of undead slaves gets boring after awhile, so eventually Nagashor took up rug hooking. He actually became quite good.

Nagashors favourite rug.

 Hope you enjoyed my little campaign! Second Editions campaign rules are straightforward and balanced. They are specifically designed for only two armies which was fine by me, and work well with any army configuration. There were six turns in this campaign, which is about what I would like. I had fun and I hope you had fun reading!

Summer, Year 2

This battle was fought in the southern elf village. The undead horde continues its march down the valley, getting closer and closer to the elves castle and last refuge.

The undead horde on the left approaches the elven village.

Nagashor the necromancer summoned a skeleton major hero into his unit. The elves replied by shooting 12 zombies dead(er) with their mighty elf bows, and the next turn shot again reducing the unit to nothing. The skeletons in the center charged the elves, the spearelves holding and the lonely knight galloping away. The zombies and ghouls charged the seaguard, which held firm. After a short combat, the skeletons routed the spearelves right off the table. The ghouls and zombies accomplished the same feat against the sea guard. The elf archers, turning to their flank were able to kill 4 skeletons. Instability reared its potentially terrifying head at this point, but the undead were safely able to ignore its effects. At this point the only elves remaining were the archers with Nozalor the mage, and Telor upon his Hippogriff, locked in a stalemate with a pesky bat swarm. Telor sounded the retreat, saving his archers for the next and most important battle, the defense of the elven castle.

Causalties: The elves had permanent losses of 8 spear elves, 5 sea guard and 1 knight. The undead lost 8 zombies, 3 skeletons and 2 wounds worth of batswarms. They could afford their losses much more easily than their elven foes.

The end of the battle. Archers in the foreground retreating,
in the distance undead relentlessly marching on.

Rules note: When attacking flying creatures, either from the ground or air, the opponent always defends as ws 10. Hmm. This means it is impossible to hit flying creatures for the majority of troops. I made an on-the-spot ruling saying you could hit a flyer on a 6 to-hit. Don't want bat swarms to be invincible!

Spring, Year 2, Part 2

The battle continues. Telor on his hippogriff routed his zombie foes off the table. A unit of Spear elfs routs off the table, as do the knights and the other unit of spear elfs. Telor sees the writing on the wall and orders the musicians to sound the retreat. The seaguard leave the battlefield in good order. Nozalor, embedded with the archers, creates an illusory building in front of the skeleton unit to buy the archers enough time to retreat in good order. This is important in the a Lost Valley campaign, because anyone who retreats in good order can be used in the next game, but troops who rout in panic lose 50% causalties permanently. Having done what he could, Telor flew away, already planning the defence of the elf village next in line down the valley.

Causalties: The undead lost 8 zombies completely dead, 1 ghoul, and five wounds of bat swarms (swarms are 10 wounds each). The elves fared worse because most of their units routed: 16 spear elves and 1 knight permanently lost. But the seaguard and archers escaped without harm, except possibly to their pride.

The archers march off in good order. In the background
is the illusionary building that delayed the skeletons.

The next battle is slated to take place at the elf village as the victorious undead push further and further down the valley.  

Winter Year 1 and Spring Year 2 - part 1

Winter is when armies in a Lost Valley campaign can muster new troops, depending on how many territories they own. The Undead have their castle, village, farm and the bridge meaning they can hire 900 points of new troops. The elves have their castle, village and farm giving them 850 points of new guys. I decided no new heroes could be hired, just troops. The undead got 15 more zombies to bring their total up to 60. 30 skeletons with spears, 20 ghouls, one tough skeleton and two (surprisingly expensive) bat swarms. The elves enlisted 28 new spearmen, 16 archers, 10 sea guard and 2 knights. The armies are now quite large and will fight on in the spring.

The undead right flank, bat swarm in the foreground.

Spring, year 2 (part 1).

Elf archers, because S4 elf bows are fun!

The entire battlefield. The elven farm in the foreground.

 

The building in the distance is the illusion that stymied the zombies,
Nozalor the Mages favourite trick.

Nagashor the mighty level 4 necromancer started things off by summoning a skeleton major hero and advancing his undead horde. The archers and the elven sea guard shot each bat swarm to pieces, making Nagashor think he wasted all the effort he put in to acquiring them! The elven mage summoned an illusionary building before the zombies of the right flank, halting their progress. The ghouls charged the elven spearmen, crashing into their lines. The left flank zombies attempted to charge Telor on his hippogriff but failed, ending up confused. The skeleton unit with Nagashor at its head charged the other unit of spearelves, causing them to flee, but the elven knights held firm. The skeletons then pushed back the knights but they held firm. The ghouls fought their foes to a standstill. Nagashor decided to cast Aura of Invulnerability on himself. This level 4 spell meant he could ignore the next 4 wounds from any non-magical weapon. Considering he hasn't yet received a wound in this campaign, that might be overkill. But who's going to argue with a maniac who summons dead people? On the last turn I played today, the elven knights were routed, the hippogriff routed the zombies and the ghouls managed to rout their spear elf foes thanks to extra causalties caused by their deadly venom. And that's all I had time for tonight. More to follow.

Lost Valley, Year 1, Autumn

After the last undead victory, the next battle takes place over the bridge.

Two units of 20 zombies with Nagashor in the far unit.

8 Spearelves, Nozalor the wizard and Telor upon his hippogriff, with the bridge in the distance.

How fast can zombies run anyway?

Nagashor orders the advance across the river towards the elves. The elven mage stays at a distance tossing fireballs at the zombies and frying many. Nagashor summons a major skeleton hero into his own unit. The elves stay put on the edge of the batttlefield until the zombie units have crossed the river. Telor charges one unit, while the spearelves charge another but come up short, leaving them confused and vulnerable. Telor upon his hippogriff routs his zombie opponents and pursues them off the table, while the other zombies charge the spearelves and send them fleeing. Nagashor also summons a skeleton minor hero into his unit. The stage was then set for the final showdown, Telor vs. Nagashor and his zombies.

Telor charged in and issued a challenge. The summoned skeleton major hero responded and they fought for two rounds. Telor lost both rounds, and on the second his hippogriff was nearly killed. So he fled the battlefield, leaving the undead the victors.

This ends the first year of the Lost Valley campaign. Over the winter each side can recruit certain points values of troops based on the territories they control. The undead have a slight edge because they own the bridge, but the elves will still be able to put a fighting force into the field come spring. I think I like this campaign system!