3,000pts : Caledor versus Dwarfs

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Sinsigel
Posts: 357
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:34 am

3,000pts : Caledor versus Dwarfs

#1 Post by Sinsigel »

This is my third game using Caledor-themed(or so I hope) 3K list.
Before this I had games with Khrone-heavy WoC with new bloodthirster, and second game with vampire counts.
This game however was against dwarfs. However, the dwarf player was actually a friend of mine who used VC in the second game.

After toying with VC for months, he grew tired of marching and swarming enemies with undead horde.
And he began taking interesting armies with strong shooting.
On the other hand, I was eager to test my list against cannon-heavy armies.
It would be an uphill struggle, but I thought such a challenge would provide unique fun.

Thus I suggested him borrowing my dwarfs army, and playing it against my list.
He gladly took the offer and we started the game.
However, he was a total novice in playing dwarfs. In fact, he was still quite a novice in WHFB.
So I tried my best to help him deploy, set target priorities and give him favourable advice, even though it could put me at a disadvantage.

Below are the lists.


High Elves

Lord
Prince(Dragon Armour, Star Dragon, Star Lance, Charmed Shield, Talisman of Preservation, The Other Trickster's Shard)

Heroes
Noble(BSB, Lance, Dragon Armour, Shield, Barded Elven Steed, Dragonhelm, Opal Amulet, Potion of Strength)
Mage(Level 2, Dispel Scroll) - Lore of Heavens
Dragon Mage of Caledor(Dragon Armour, Level 2, Enchanted Shield, Golden Crown of Atrazar, Gem of Sunfire, Scroll of Shielding) - Lore of Fire

Core
18 Archers(Standard Bearer, Musician)
14 Silver Helms(Shields, Full Command)
5 Ellyrian Reavers(Bows & Spears, Musician)
5 Ellyrian Reavers(Bows, Musician)

Special
7 Dragon Princes of Caledor(Full Command, Ogre Blade, Banner of the World Dragon)
5 Shadow Warriors

Rare
Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower
Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower
Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower
Frostheart Phoenix


Dwarfs

Lord
Lord(Shield, Shieldbearers, Runic Weapon : Master Rune of Swiftness & Rune of Might, Rune of Parrying,
Runic Armour : 3xRune of Warding)

Heroes
Thane(BSB, Shield, Master Rune of Grungni & 2xRune of Slowness)
Runesmith(Shield, Runic Armour : Rune of Stone, Runic Talisman : 2xRune of Spellbreaking)
Runesmith(Shield, Runic Armour : Rune of Stone, Runic Talisman : Rune of Spellbreaking)
Master Engineer(Runic Armour : Rune of Stone)

Core
15 Quarellers(Great Weapons, Shields, Musician)
30 Longbeards(Great Weapons, Shields, Full Command : Rune of Stoicism)

Special
27 Hammerers(Full Command : Master Rune of Valaya)
Cannon(Rune of Forging)
Cannon(Rune of Forging, Rune of Fire)
Grudge Thrower(Rune of Penetrating, Rune of Forging, Rune of Accuracy)
Gyrocopter
Gyrocopter

Rare
Organ Gun(Rune of Accuracy, Rune of Forging)
Organ Gun
5 Rangers

We played Blood and Glory mission by rolling a D6. High Elves had 6 fortitude points and dwarfs had 5 points when the game started.
Dragon mage earned fireball and flaming sword. heavens mage on the other hand rolled iceshard blizzard and uranon's thunderbolt.
Dwarfs rolled for hatred between characters for the grudge chart, and took the first turn.

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Deployment

Turn 1

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No dwarf units save gyrocopters moved. The copter on the left of dwarf line flew over shadow warriors and dropped bombs.
The bombardment killed 2 shadow warriors, but they passed panic test.

In the shooting phase, all the crossbow bolts were shot at dragon princes but killed none.
Both cannons tried to aim the star dragon, but the drake was hidden behind the tower in the center.
So the cannons instead fired at the phoenix. First cannonball was blocked by ward save, whereas the second one rolled 1 to wound.
Grudge Thrower missed the phoenix despite re-roll.

In tandem with second copter, non-magical organ gun decimated the reavers.(DPs were out of range)
Magical organ gun poured volleys at silver helms and fell 4 of them.

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After dwarf fusillade......

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Suffering little from initial bombardment, high elf forces march rapidly.

3,3 was rolled for winds of magic. Dragon Mage attempts to cast 3d6 fireball and the nearest cannon with all the dice.
But the spell was dispelled by dwarf rune.

Archers and bolt thrower shot at copter blocking silver helms, but it survived with a single wound left.

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End of high elf turn 1

Turn 2

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Rangers and copter moves to block DPs and silver helms respectively.
Another copter blocks remaining unit of reavers.

In the shooting phase, both cannons now fire at the star dragon.
Alas, both rolled 10 on initial artillery dice and the cannonballs flew over the dragon doing no harm.
Grudge Thrower again completely misses despite re-rolls on scatter die.

The copter shoots steam gun at silver helms and kill 2 of them, while quarrellers shoot down another.
Other copter removes single reaver with steam gun.
Both organ guns shoot the phoenix and deals 2 wounds.

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DPs charge rangers, and the silver helms the copter.
Dragon Mage and the phoenix successfully charge the quarrellers.
Reavers also charge the copter.
Star Dragon makes march move and lands right next to longbeards.

During the magic phase I roll 2,1 and cast nothing.
Phoenix's strength is down to 5.

Shooting phase sees archers and bolt throwers killing few hammerers.
Star Dragon shoots its breath weapon, hitting 22 dwarfs.
But only 5 are killed due to low dice when rolling to wound.

In close combat, both the dragon mage and frostheart phoenix wipe out quarrellers.
They overrun into cannon and non-magical organ gun respectively.

Both cavalry units also wipe out rangers and copter, although the reavers fail to remove copter and become locked in combat.

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End of high elves turn 2

Turn 3

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Hammerers reform to face the dragon mage and phoenix, while not exposing flank to DPs.
Longbeards move backwards so as not to provide space for the star dragon to land, should it attempt to charge the hammerers' rear.

Remaining cannon shoots the star dragon and inflicts 3 wounds.
Again, the Grudge Thrower misses. Organ Gun too shoots the star dragon but deals zero wounds to either the prince or the dragon.

In close combat, the reavers and copter inflict single wound to each other, but the combat still goes on.
Both the dragon mage and the phoenix kill 2 crew of each warmachine. The stubborn crew hold.

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Silver Helms successfully charge longbeards despite the effects of double slowness rune.

In the magic phase iceshard blizzard is cast, and then gets erased by dispel rune.
Fireball is dispelled by dice. Archers and bolt throwers wipe out a rank of 7 hammerers.

Close combat saw 3 silver helms dead and 1 wound inflicted to the prince.
But the high elves win combat by killing nearly 10 dwarfs, although stubborn longbeards hold.

Dragon mage and the phoenix finishes both warmachines and reform.

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End of high elves turn 3

Turn 4

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Hammerers with their lord charge the phoenix.

The sole surviving cannon shoots the dragon mage. Although the mages survives thanks to golden gem, the dragon is left with only a wound.
The organ gun then shoots down the dragon, although the mage is unharmed.
Grudge Thrower shoots the archers and remove 6 of them.

Both reavers and gyrocopter keeps fighting with neither side fleeing.
The dwarfs lord, now striking at S8 in spite of blizzard aura, finishes the phoenix before the bird gets to attack.

Longbeards concentrate their attacks on the prince and kill him.
The dragon them fails monster reaction test by rolling double sixes and becomes subject to stupidity.
All dwarf characters strike silver helms to kill the standard bearer.
However they fail to inflict any wound, whereas the dragon killed heaps of longbeards to ensure high elf victory.
The stubborn dwarfs however hold again.

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End of dwarf turn 4

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Dragon Mage blocks the hammerers, and the DPs move toward silver helms.

During magic phase, heavens mage casts thunderbolt to grudge thrower and inflicts single wound.
Elven arrows shoot down another 7 hammerers.

In close combat, all dwarf characters strike silver helms again, bu kills only one horseman.
The dragon kept rampaging and only 4 dwarfs remain.
Because of dwindling number, the longbeard unit which initially had 7 files were reduced to 4 files.
The dragon then shuffled a bit to make base contact with remaining 4 dwarfs, getting into contact with the BSB.

Despite defeat, longbeards hold their ground.

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End of high elves turn 4.

Turn 5

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Hammerers charge the lone mage, and grudge thrower kills 5 more archers.

The lone reaver luckily kills the copter and reforms.
The star dragon, now in base contact with thane, pour all its attacks and kills the BSB.
Then using its thunderstomp, finally removes the longbeard standard bearer.
At this point, the dwarfs' fortitude point has reached 3 points and automatically loses.

The game itself was unexpectedly tense and enjoyable, since I never expected my dragons(especially the star dragon) to reach close combat.
Luckily, the building came out while randomly generating terrain, and I got to place it on the table before my opponent.
The dwarf cannons in turn 1 and 2 also failed to inflict significant damage to either the phoenix and star dragon, although this was more due to sheer bad luck.

However, as my prince was killed early in close combat, my fortitude pint was suddenly down to 4 compared to the dwarfs' 5.
So the game boiled down to speed game of removing each other's standards.
In my case I had to kill both the thane and the longbeard standard, whereas dwarfs only needed to remove already dwindled silver helm unit's banner.
It was a tense game, but again thanks to some unlucky rolls for dwarf characters, I happened to win the game of attrition and achieve victory.

But then again, it depresses me quite a bit since only sheer luck enabled my list to win against a typical dwarf list.
Had the dice rolled favourable for the dwarfs and the outcome might have been completely different,
let alone against some nasty lists including double S-tank empire or quadruple ironblaster ogre kingdoms.
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