Battle of Farscry Holdfast

Greetings!

Here we have a 2000 points non-campaign battlereport to wrap up the year, my Aelves against my friend's Blades of Khrone.

The scenario was generated from the new Battleplan Generator that comes with the Core Book, giving us a straight-up "kill 'em all" game where nothing but slain enemy models and their Wounds mattered.

Without further ado, here's the game!

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Lord Sundamar Blazeborn surveyed the green field that stretched out far below him, his tactician mind memorizing the buildings and ruins that dotted the scene. A'undtur, his great red dragon, growled approvingly as it carried its aelf companion through the clouds.
"Daemons," the ancient being mind-sang to its rider.
"Daemons of the Blood God, hungry for the lives of mortals."
"And barbarian tribesmen, too. I can smell them all the way up here," Lord Sundamar sang back as he watched the ant-sized dots forming up into hordes and warbands on the field.

Across the field from daemons and barbarians stood a glittering host in neat, arrayed ranks. This was Sundamar's force, drawn from the loyal members of the Order of the Moonserpent to reclaim the distant Farscry Holdfast that had been lost to Chaos a couple of months earlier. Their aim was to secure the holdfast and its surrounding area so that astronomers and loremasters could once again gain access to the holdfast's structural scrying engines.

Lord Sundamar kept him and A'undtur up in the skies to survey the development of the battle's opening moments. Archmage Aristeides Clearsight and Loremaster Aerelian the Sage had assumed command of the army for now, their legions of spearmen, Reavers and Swordmasters accompanied by a Frostheart Phoenix.

They were facing mobs of Bloodreavers, Blood Warriors, Bloodletters, Khorgoraths, Flesh Hounds and Chaos Warriors, as well as a massive Bloodthirster. The struggle ahead would not be an easy one, and victory would not be obtainable without a dire cost.

"Steady in the ranks. Keep your spears at your side and your bows at the ready," Archmage Aristeides instructed the citizen militia that were drawing up their lines beside him. The bolted door to the holdfast itself was painfully close, as if inviting him inside to unlock its secrets. Yet he could not go, not before the enemy across the field had been driven off.
"Nock your arrows! Take aim!"

Wood clattered and quivers hissed as the aelves prepared for the first volley. Their movements were quick and sharp for the prospect of a terrifying battle ahead of them, yet still far more elegant than any human could ever hope to match. For mere heartbeats the field was silent, then the enemy surged forth with a bloodcurdling warcry.

As the enemy closed in, the aelves unleashed their first volley. Bolts struck out from the two Repeater Bolt Throwers, taking down the first ranks of the Bloodletter legion as the daemons were pierced by shafts on the run. Clouds of arrows hissed across the sky, sent by the deep ranks of the Spireguard, only to clatter harmlessly off the shields and plate armour of the Chaos Warriors. Reavers rode ahead and released three volleys of shafts in quick succession before turning around and heading back, felling at least a dozen bare-chested barbarians on the left flank.

The Flesh Hounds of Khorne sprinted nimbly past the arrows and bolts of the aelves, racing up the hill on the right flank to assail the warmachine crews. The Swordmasters ran to the aid of the Bolt Thrower, but not before the hounds had already managed to tear the two crewmen to a bloody mess. The aelven warmachine battery had suddenly been halved.

There was another pack of Flesh Hounds on the left flank, which hunted down the retreating Reavers and tore one of the riders off his mount. The cavalry turned about and faced the beasts with spear and sword, but while they were distracted the Bloodreavers were closing in....

The Swordmasters managed to clean the hilltop of Flesh Hounds fast enough, only to raise their gazes to the daemons and warriors still racing towards them. This would be a bloody day indeed.

The worshippers of the Blood God were storming across the field, at a rate fast for any regular beholder. Yet for the aelves it seemed like it was taking an eternity for the lumberfoots to reach their lines. They rained arrows upon the foe as fast as they could, to thin out their ranks before the late but inevitable impact.

Sundamar guided A'undtur down from the skies in a crash of dust and grass, ready to tear apart the barbarian flank.

The Spireguard rushed forward on the right flank to hold the narrow pass between the holdfast and the hill. Their attempt was to funnel the enemy Warrior horde into a battle of attrition where numbers didn't count for grot's skinny arse. The Swordmasters hefted their greatblades and prepared to face the Khorgorath rushing towards the hill.

The dragon A'undtur rained fire upon the Bloodreaver horde as it ran past, while the Reavers managed to spear the last Flesh Hound just in time to turn and face the barbarian charge.

The Chaos Warriors took the bait and rushed into the narrow pass, crashing against the wall of shields like a tidal wave. Spears thrust out from between the long aelven shields, puncturing organs and felling several warriors. The barbarians responded in kind, their heavy hammers and axes splitting shields and the pointy-ears behind them in great, sweeping arcs. Blood was spilled on both sides, but the narrow pass favoured the fighting style of the aelven phalanx, as there was little space for swinging weapons.

The Bloodreavers charged into the disarrayed aelven cavalry, taking their huge meatripper axes to the panicking enemy skirmishers. Bloodletters crushed into the steady shieldwall of the alven militia in the centre, their daemonic power diminished by the freezing aura of the phoenix circling above them.

The mighty Bloodthirster of Khorne landed at the edge of the centre woods with its leathery wings, lashing out its whip to strike the last Bolt Thrower to splinters. The Frostheart Phoenix glided down from the skies, sinking its ice-cold talons into the simmering daemonic flesh of the greater daemon and spilling boiling blood. For a moment the two behemoths were lost in a tangle of frozen wings and flaming whipstrikes, but as the steam and dust settled the Bloodthirster's lifeless form was slowly dissipating on the bloodied grass.

The Khorgrorath charged up the right flank hill and began trashing the Swordmasters. For all their agility and skill, the aelven elite were no match for the daemonic beast. The Khorgorath picked them up and apart one by one, caving ribcages and splattering brains with every swing of its massive fists. Bony tentacles shot out from its shoulders, transfixing the remaining few who had dodged the initial blows. Soon none remained atop the hill but battered carcasses and a roaring beast.

Several Reavers fell on the left flank as the barbarians took their toll, felling horses and riders with ease as their axes carved through the elegant aelven armour. This could have been the end of the light cavalry had Sundamar and A'undtur not flown to their aid, scorching the back ranks of the Bloodreavers with dragonfire and shredding them with tooth and claw.

At the centre the Bloodletters washed over the militia in a tide of red skin and black horns, beheading and gutting the screaming aelves as they battered against the shieldwall. Spears were thrust forth from the thinning aelven formation, taking down droves of the frenzied daemons. With the might and protection of Asuryan, the militia held the line.

Having vanguished the greater daemon, the phoenix flew over to the narrow pass where the aelven phalanx was holding off the Chaos Warriors. Their tactics proved effective as yet another rank of barbarians fell, the gaps in their armour proving to be their undoing as the aelven spears shot out. From time to time a lucky swing of an axe caught one of the defenders from the shieldwall, but for now the Spireguard were holding their ground admirably.

Sundamar took A'undtur to the enemy commanders who were observing the battle further back on the field. A Khornate banner-bearer was beheaded by a swift strike from Sundamar's blade, while a daemonic general was torn limb-from-limb by the dragon's claws.

The Frostheart Phoenix froze the muscles of the Chaos Warriors at the pass with its radiating aura of cold air, before falling upon them with its claws. Frozen armour plates crumbled and cracked as the phoenix ripped the barbarian formation apart, leaving only a few stragglers to bash themselves uselessly against the aelven shieldwall.

Sundamar struck out with his enchanted blade as another daemonic commander lunged at them, only to be impaled upon the aelf lord's magical sword. There was a whiff of hot air as something huge entered the battlefield above them.
"What is it? Where is it?" Lord Sundamar sang to A'undtur inside his mind. The battle was tipping to the favour of the aelves now, and he feared this newcomer might tip the scales back again.
"Another Bloodthirster, my little lord... It follows the scent of all the blood we have spilled here today, no doubt," the ancient drake replied.

Then the ground shook as the greater daemon landed right next to them, lashing out with its spiked whip. The sinewy cord wrapped around the dragon's neck, drawing a pained growl from A'undtur. The Bloodthirster yanked the whip like it would the leash of a hound, dragging the dragonrider closer.
"Nngghh.... Smite the daemon, little one, or I fear we are done for!" the dragon urged, its mind-singing drawn and clearly in pain.
Sundamar struck the whip with his blade, snapping it clean through and freeing his mount. The dragon let out a fearsome roar and turned upon its assailant, raking the greater daemon with its claws and snapping its jaws shut around the Bloodthirster's neck.

The struggle was over as quickly as it had begun, with the Bloodthirster laying dead on the ground with a gaping hole where its neck should be.

With the death of the second greater daemon, the remaining handful of Chaos Warriors abandoned the battle and fled the field. The aelves of the Order of the Moonserpent let out a ragged cry of triumph, for they had bested the legions of the Blood God in direct combat and forced them off the field!

As Sundamar slided down from his saddle to inspect A'undtur's wounds, the  Archmage and the Loremaster approached the holdfast. Their spells had protected the aelven spearmen and enhanced the power of the phoenix during the battle, helping the Order to hold the centre while their Lord cleared the field with his dragon companion.

The scrying engines and astronomical equipment of the Farscry Holdfast would surely serve the Order well in the coming years of war and vengeance.

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Major Victory for my Aelves!

It's a rare day indeed to see a non-Battletome army defeat a Battletome army so soundly, even rarer when it's a straight-up pitched battle against the daemons of Khorne! It was a great game which had many turning points and got resolved only in the final round-and-a-half. I especially enjoyed the Thermopylae-esque combat between the Spireguard and the Chaos Warriors, not to mention the two Behemoth duels we had during the game! Truly an amazing way to cap the hobby year 2018 and move on to the next.

So, what do I have in mind for the ExtraBushyBeards-blog now that this year's nearing its end?

The new year will bring along a new army project, under the Tales of Instahammer community event, as well as lots of painting and playing the previous ones. Might be you'll get to see my Stormcast take to the battlefield at last! There will also be a couple of "Blasts from the Past" as I venture into the forgotten realms of Warhammer Fantasy Battles 3rd Edition, and perhaps the 6th, too.

There will also be new campaigns coming up, with a heavy emphasis on map campaigns, and some older ones will be continued (Streets of Oldentown) and wrapped up (The Iron Grudge), so there's a lot to wait for in the upcoming year.

And Puffington Post will keep printing those news for you, of course.
See you on the other side!