Well, unfortunately things didn't go my way in my game earlier this week. It came down to the wire, but it ended up as a pyrrhic victory to the Wood Elves. My list was as follows:
High Elves - 1996pts
Lords 320pts
Archmage, Level 4 Lore of Life, Book of Hoeth, Talisman of Preservation
Heroes 300pts
Noble, Battle Standard Bearer, Dragon Armor, Shield of the Merwyrm, Sword of Might 140pts
Mage, Level 2 High Magic, Dispel Scroll, Talisman of Protection 160pts
Core 511pts
15x Archers, Musician 160pts
5x Ellyrian Reavers, Musician, Bow and Spear, 105pts
24x Spearmen, Full Command, 246pts
Special 725pts
23x Phoenix Guard, Full Command, Razor Standard, 420pts
20x White Lions of Chrace, Full Command, Banner of Swiftness, 305pts
Rare 140pts
Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower 70pts
Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower 70pts
Spells
Lore of Life: Awakening of the Wood, Flesh to Stone, Throne of Vines, Regrowth
High Magic: Soul Quench, Hand of Glory
In the throes of battle I forgot to take more photos once the game started, but hopefully you can see from the deployment below that Dawn Attack absolutely ****ed me. My bolt throwers ended up on the left flank with all of his forces the opposite side of the board. I think they maybe killed two Wardancers the whole game and that's it. I failed to steal initiative and went second.
Accepting I just had 140 dead points on my left flank, I did my best to move up the board quickly. His Waystalker with Sniper took out my Level 2 Mage on his turn 2 so I got very little use out of him. Even worse, my Lord miscast two turns in a row, both times getting a 10 on the miscast table and losing wizard levels and spells. Turn 1 I lost 2 levels, Regrowth and Throne of Vines. Turn 2 I lost another level and Flesh to Stone.
I managed to buff the White Lions turn 1 with Hand of Glory and give them +2 movement, so with their banner they moved up the right flank very quickly. I was able to charge into his Glade Guard's flank and kill his Level 2, but I lost a lot of them to his magical shooting (Hagbane Tips). Some Glade Riders came on the next turn and took most of them out with armor piercing magic shots. By the time my Reavers moved around to try and support, the Lions were dead. They did manage to take out a unit of Glade Guard, but I foolishly chased them through the forest and rolled 3 1s on dangerous terrain.
The Phoenix Guard moved up the center and eventually charged his Treeman, weathering its attacks for a couple of turns before eventually taking it out. The Warhawk Riders charged their rear but that ended up being a mistake as Phoenix Guard have higher initiative. The remaining Phoenix Guard tried to push up towards his lord and failed a charge by 1", losing some of their dwindling numbers to Stand and Shoot. The next turn, all of them died to Stand and Shoot, but the Noble BSB made it by herself and smote his Lord in a flurry of attacks and taking no wounds in return. His lord had taken Acorn of Ages so had no defense. The Glade Guard then fled off the board.
My Spearmen and Lord ended up in combat with the Wardancers on Turn 4, losing spectacularly and attempting to flee before being caught. In the end, all I had left on the board was my Noble BSB, 12 Archers and 1 Bolt Thrower. He had over half of his Wardancers, two units of Glade Riders and a small unit of Glade Guard, enough to take a very slight win.
I think if I hadn't been so unfortunate with the miscasts, things may have gone differently as I may have been able to maintain Flesh to Stone and restore models with Regrowth. The scenario certainly didn't do me any favours either. I think rather than the Archers, Spearmen and Reavers I should maybe have taken a 40 strong horde of Lothern Sea Guard. At least that way I could have sent a few volleys of arrows his way whilst moving up the board. Once my Silver Helms, Eagles and Frostheart Phoenix are painted up I think they will be auto-includes. It was fun to play all the same and I look forward to a rematch. If anyone is wondering, I had made the gentleman's agreement not to bring the Banner of the World Dragon. I have made no such promises about bringing Alarielle at some point, and this is after all the Army of Avelorn.