Once again my Nurgle Daemons faced off against the High Elves commanded by two of my friends. We decided whoever captured each objective would gain 200 VP’s at the end of the game. I never got the High Elf list so we will get straight on to the battle. (Note: The Lion Chariot with the general in the center of the Spear block was actually a regular Tiranoc chariot.) My friend also decided I should play with the new rules pack from www.squarebased.com which gives Daemons a permenant 5+ ward instead of losing their 5+ ward against magic.
Not much happened in my first turn with the army making a general advance up the center with the fliers using their speed to advance quicker on the flanks. Before we get too far into it I will mention I brought Dark Magic for my Demon Prince and Great Unclean One for the first time ever. I didn’t realize the relatively short range of the Dark Magic spells so my Daemon Prince spent a lot of time flitting back and forth trying to get in range for his magic.
In the High Elf turn the Silver Helms took umbrage at the disdain the Plague Flies showed towards them and launched a charge. Even with their lances they failed to wound the bloated flies who struck down one of the Elven Nobles in return pushing the elves back. A smattering of bow fire sent a Plaguebearer back to the warp.
The Daemons continued their advance and the fight against the Silver Helms slowly ground on with another elf selling it’s life for a wound against the bloated scions of Nurgle. Combat ended as a draw with the two sides still locked in combat.
In their turn the High Elves managed to kill a few more Plaguebearers with their shooting and magic. The Silver Helms finally lost their fight and after breaking were run down by the foul Plague Flies.
In the Nurgle turn the Flies attempted to charge the unit of elven bowmen who smartly fled, the Daemon Prince and Furies played the fly around the table doing nothing game, and the rest of the army advanced to get into grips with the elven line.
Using their centuries of martial training (and a little luck in not failing their Impetuous roll) the Dragon Princes used their Drilled skill to march past the Great Unclean One. Where the cream of Ulthuan’s knightly realm sidled past the monstrous beast the archers stepped up right in front of him to help buy their line time to shift. I can just imagine the derision those troops must have been throwing at the tail end of the moving knights!
Finally in this turn a few things actually happened! The Nurgle Daemons launched charges across the board. The Nurglings charged the Dragon Princes, the Great Unclean One charged the archers, which the Daemon Prince failed mightily to get into grips with. (No swift stride really let him down!) A block of Plaguebearers and the Beasts of Nurgle charged the chariot riding lord in his unit of spearmen. The Great Unclean One proved he needs to spend more time in the gym as he only managed to kill two of the Elven Archers, but they fled from his horrifying visage none the less. Realizing he was needed more in the center of the board he successfully restrained pursuit to prepare to attack something with a little more value. The Beasts of Nurgle really carried their weight helping to win the combat against the Spear block and pushed them back. The high toughness of the Nurlge troops, and my (almost) always awesome save ability (luck) meant the Plaguebearers only lost three models. The Dragon Princes fought off the Nurglings and opted to not follow up. In the shooting phase the Plague Fly unit actually managed to kill something with their Deaths Heads shooting attack. Sure it was only an archer from the unit that fled from them previously, but it was something!
Knowing they faced the Great Unclean One and lived the remaining Archers ran off the table to report back on their heroic deeds! The remaining archer unit rallied and turned to face the Plague Flies. The Dragon Princes found an enemy worth their while and charged the Daemon Prince while the Battle Standard Bearer on his chariot charged the Nurglings. The rest of the Elven line turned to face the Plague Flies to throw some shots at them, while the mage ran to hide behind the spear block to avoid being charged by the Flies in a later turn. In the shooting phase the Elves finally found the sharp side of their arrows, and my vaunted save rate let me down so they were able to destroy the almost healthy unit of Plague Flies with the assistance of elven magic! In combat the Nurgle Daemons pushed the block of spearmen back away from them but opted to not follow up so they could charge in their turn. The Dragon Princes were able to win the combat against the Daemon Prince who was sent howling back to the warp when a massive 10 was rolled on his Instability test, followed by an 11 on his re-roll! In less exciting news the Noble Battle Standard Bearer was able to kill one stand of Nurglings and almost destroy another through wounds and instability! The Dragon Princes both elated and surprised at their easy victory rolled low on their pursuit roll and failed to catch the flank of the Plaguebearers and their Battle Standard Bearer.
The Plaguebearers turned to face the Dragon Princes while the Great Unclean One proceeded to bear down on the Dragon Princes. The Beasts of Nurgle went on an absolute killing frenzy causing ten wounds on the spearelves which promptly fell back in good order. Unfortunately for the Elven Archmage the Beasts of Nurgle found him a wonderful play toy and left on top of him. The Elven Chariot was able to once again fight off the Nurglings and rather than follow up reformed to go hunting for a better target.
The chariot was able to charge the Furies, and the Dragon Princes charged the Plaguebearers due to a poorly timed failed Impetuous roll. The Eagle used every bit of its movement to set up to divert the Great Unclean One away from the flank of the Dragon Princes. The chariot destroyed the Furies and the Dragon Princes pushed the Plaguebearers back into the woods. The Beasts of Nurgle tore the poor Archmage limb from limb. He was in a bad spot, and I’m certain had he not moved to a position he could have been charged by victorious troops my opponent would have failed to kill the Flies and they would have got him instead! (I’m not quite sure what happened with the Plaguebearers versus the Spear elves. Obviously the didn’t fare to well, but I can’t figure out how they ended up with a unit of archers in front of them.)
In the final turn the Great Unclean One was able to charge the the Great Eagle at an angle it’s overrun would hit the Dragon Princes. I got very lucky he was able to roll high on his charge roll because a shorter result would have left me just hitting the foul bird and not get over far enough to get the much needed overrun. In the other combats the two Plaguebearers killed an archer and caused them to break and run. Remembering he’s supposed to actually kill something the Great Unclean One laid wasted to the Dragon Princes killing four of them and leading the chase ran down the survivor!
In the final half turn of the game the chariot moved up to contest the objective, the Beasts of Nurgle continued to whittle down the elven spearmen and the final two Plaguebearers survived a rain of arrows to survive the game.
With that all there was left to do was add up the victory points! I had initially thought once captured the objectives stayed yours until they were retaken, however, I was told that was not the case and they only counted at the end of the game. (This was consistent with how we normally play, I just wasn’t paying attention!) With that no one got any bonus Victory Points so it went straight to kills! The forces of Nurgle lost just under 800 points of troops while the High Elves lost just over 1,000 points. This was extremely close and basically fell into the draw range. My opponents played a terrific game and with a little more luck the points could have swung just the opposite way!
-Wachtmeister
The Wachtmeister's Patrol 