Monday, March 12, 2018

Battlelore - The battle of the Crimson Roots

The conflict between the peace loving Uthuk Y’llan and the imperialist Daqan Lords has once again flared up after a surprise attack by the evil humans. While the Uthul Y’llan army was quietly resting, the Daqan cavalry, hidden by the "Barrow Mounds of the Gatesmen", launched a raid over the border in an attempt to desecrate the sacred "Crimson Roots".

(VP are awarded for occupying each of the two marked objective points. Additionally, the Daqan receive one VP if they have at least one unit of Golems on a hill at the end of their turn. The Uthuk receive one extra VP if both of the "Crimson Roots" locations are free of enemy.)
 



Initial Setup


The Daqan army began their attack on the left flank in an attempt to secure the vital ground between two woods.

In response, the Uthuk Y’llan troops on their own left flank, attacked with 3 units, including two units of archers that occupied the hills dominating that side of the battlefield. The right-most unit of archers fired an withering volley of arrows at the distant enemy archers, causing two hits and severely unsettling the overconfident Daqan princeling. Sadly, the other unit of archers was less accurate and did not complete the task.
(1 VP for Daqan, 2 for Uthuk)

 

Start of turn 2

The Daqan then formed a right echelon and moved their Rune Golems, supported by the cowardly Riverwatch Riders onto the high ground to their right. They attacked the Uthuk archers and wiped them out to occupy the vital ground (securing 3 VP for a total of 4).

The Uthuk initiated an infantry onslaught to deal with the enemy light cavalry before they could do further damage. However, the gods of lore were with the Daqan and the surprise of their otherwise pitiful battle-cry caused the two units of Uthuk Blood Harvesters to check their charge. Fortunately, the remaining unit of archers, who did not advance, were not phased and took careful aim to force the cavalry off the hill and re-occupy the crest.



End of Turn 2
The Daqan then launched their famous cavalry charge. The light cavalry on the right charged up the hill into the defending archers, while two units of cavalry on the left advanced to desecrate the sacred Crimson roots. (securing 3 more VP for a total of 7). 

Turn 3 Daqan Plan



End of Daqan Turn 3
The Uthuk then pursued their attack on the left, launching the unit of Flesh Ripper to swing behind the Daqan cavalry, and advancing one of the units of Blood Harvesters.


Turn 3 Uthuk Plan
The combined assault destroyed the cavalry and the Flesh Rippers occupied the crest again. The archers weer ordered to fire at whatever targets of opportunity arose, and succeeded in clearing away the remaining human archer. (however, this still only achieved 1 VP for a total of 5).


End of Uthuk Turn 3
The Daqan took a pause and merely patrolled on their right flank.

Turn 4 Daqan Plan
Both units of Golems lobbed rocks at the Uthuk Flesh Rippers, killing one and stunning the unit. (However, they still scored 2 VP, totalling 9).

End of Daqan Turn 4
The Uthuk launched a brutal counter attack in the centre, combining infantry, Flesh Rippers and the Doombringer to surround the Daqan cavalry.

Turn 4 Uthuk Plan
Both units of Daqan cavalry were all but destroyed and one of the Crimson Root groves was recovered. The Doombringer attempted to force the mages from their key location, but failed to achieve any useful result.  (this therefore only netted 1 VP for a total of 6).


End of Uthuk Turn 4
The Daqan chose to go all out and battle marched the Golems, the cavalry and a unit of Mages.

Turn 5 Daqan Plan
The Golems again captured the high ground on their right, and the cavalry on the left tried to push the Doombringer away from their objective. However, they did no damage and it battled back to push them into the forest. (The Daqan again held 3 VP for a total of 12)


End of Daqan Turn 5
The Uthuk had one last chance to reverse their fortune. They counter-attacked battle marching three of their own units on their right and using their lore to order a unit of Flesh Rippers across the battlefield to try to dislodge the Golems with an "unrelenting" attack.

Turn 5 Uthuk Plan
Despite surrounding every enemy unit they attacked, they only killed one Mage on the right. The Flesh Rippers managed to kill 2 of the Golems, but it was not enough and they were repulsed. (scoring a mere 1 VP for a total of 7)


End of Uthuk Turn 5
The Daqan adopted an echelon left manoeuvre.

Turn 6 Daqan Plan
This forced the Uthuk Flesh Rippers to withdraw, but otherwise made no impact. (It didn’t matter as they still held 3 VP for a total of 15 with no way for the Uthuk to prevent them scoring the required last point in the next turn).


End of Daqan Turn 6
The Uthuk lacked the means to order any activity on their left flank, so opted to clean up the remaining Daqan troops on their right.

Turn 6 Uthuk Plan
Once again they used superior numbers to surround the enemy and overran the Mages. Too late to really affect the outcome, the Chaos Lord finally woke up and used some lore to move into combat. (they scored 2 VP for a total of 9).

End of Uthuk Turn 6
With nothing left to lose, the Daqan cavalry tried once more to secure the objective on their left flank.
Turn 7 Daqan Plan
However, they were unable to overcome the ferocity of the Flesh Rippers, but it didn't matter. The Golems still held the right flank. (2 more VP for a total of 17 and victory)


End of Daqan Turn 7

In a desperate attempt at gaining some honour, the Uthuk feasted on the remaining Daqan cavalry and sent a unit of Flesh Rippers towards the Golems on their left.

Turn 7 Uthuk Plan

It was too little too late. (2 final VP, for a woeful total of 11).

End of Uthuk Turn 7
The Daqan decision to advance the Golems and occupy the hill that also contained an objective marker rewarded them with a stream of VP almost every turn, and protected the rear unit of Golems from any threat. In contrast, the Uthuk continued to neglect the option to use lore to move the Chaos Lord forward each turn, so the most powerful unit in the army played no part in the battle. Both sides had their share of good and bad luck with the inability of the Uthuk to cause any wounds (despite better than 50% odds on every attack) on turn 5 making the difference between 3VP that turn and only 1 (and the reverse applied to the Daqan).

Now that war has begun, it will continue until one side is wiped from the realm.








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