It has been quite a while since we have played Fantastic Battles and both Ian and I were really looking forward to today's game. With Ian becoming a master of surprise in this game with his troop choice and use of traits I decided to get my own back by using a totally new army on him. My Wylde Elves, largely based on the list in the book have been painted over a few years (as I flit between projects) but I have added a few troop choices of my own and tweaked the traits a bit to suit my ideas. Ian bought along his Dingly Dell army, an army full of surprises and always hard to beat.
The Battle of Merith Moor and the Threefold Sorrows A 1500 point per side game of Fantastic Battle |
Deep within the green shadowed realm of Colbryn Forest the long quiet Wylde Elves are stirring. For years they have followed the silent way and kept to themselves but no more. With armies clashing all over the Braemarg (the Wylde) and encroaching on their lands the forces of the Wylde Elves are gathering. With Giant Eagles and Wylde Elf Pegasus riders now soaring over the Braemarg all eyes look nervously to the skies and towards Colbryn Forest…
The pre-game procedure and deployment is as normal. The main aim of the battle is of course to defeat the enemy. Other objectives and events are… 1: A Wylde Elf Waystone stands towards the western side of the battlefield (see map). The evil side must spend one turn stationary and in contact with the stone (and not be in melee) to destroy the stone and win that objective. 2: Towards the Eastern side of the board are a group of rocks. These rocks have strange and magical properties. Once the first blood has been spilt the rocks will start to move. At the start of the very next turn (and each turn after that) the rocks will move 1d3 +1” in a random direction (use a scatter dice for direction). Any companies or characters moved into must test as below to try and avoid instant death. Throw a d6… 1,2: All units/companies about to be hit by the stone move 1xd3 bw directly away from the stone, this may cause mayhem amongst the armies as units move into one another. . 3,4: All units/companies manage to escape the stones but each company that would have been hit by the stones lose 1xd6 resolve. 5,6: All units/companies/panic and freeze and die as the rocks land on them. Remove the affected units/companies from play immediately. Any characters moved over will always be able to evade death. They move as if pushed in the direction of the stones. Note: if the rocks move off the board they will not return.
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Some of my Wylde Elves...
Wylde Elf Rangers (Mighty Armies elves).
Wylde Elf Guardians with a friendly dragon. (Reaper Dragon and Demonworld Elves).
Giant Eagles and Centaur archers. (Kallistra Eagles and Demonworld Centaurs).
Wylde Elf Pegasus riders (Demonworld figures).
However, I was not the only one who had been busy, Ian had a few new troops of his own for his Dingly Dell army.
Some rock golems who Ian created as artillery able to hurl rocks.
This took me totally by surprise when it first happened. A handy wizard close by to cast 'Haste' and they could reload quickly to (this idea was pinched from friend Chris who did it first!).
Dingly Dell prospectors, classed as 'vehicle'.
Deployment and mishaps. The Wylde Elves on the left were the attackers and Dingly Dell were the defenders on the right. They were quite badly affected by mishaps as the photo shows.
The game developed so quickly and was so absorbing that I forgot to take photo's to begin with. I was in real trouble by the end of turn 2 as I had lost all the companies and a character in this photo whereas Dingly Dell had lost just one!
This was the first sorrow.
The view from behind the Dingly Dell lines as the battle develops.
Wylde Elf centaur allies start to redress the balance.
The centaurs did very well until they ran out of resolve after one melee to many. This was the second great sorrow!
The Dingly Dell giant mushrooms were on 'stimulants' (magic mushrooms???) but they were charged by my Wylde Elf Rangers and then the Wylde Elf Guardians were blinked into their flank. The mushrooms were destroyed. In the background my rogue, Mag Nemnas the Fox had just shot and killed 'Bobby Dazzler, one of the Dingly Dell captains with his Phoenix Bow.
However, when my centaurs were killed that had taken me over my Breakpoint but the elves had closed the gap. 13 companies lost by the elves compared to 11 companies by the Denizens of Dingly Dell. The Elf defeat was the third great sorrow.
This was a cracking game and we hope to play again next week. Same armies but you can be sure that some traits will be tweaked on both sides.
