So after I posted my last Oathmark battle report someone on the Oathmark Discord noticed that I was playing the scenario incorrectly. Significantly. Embarrassingly. Now normally I would have chalked it up to my inability to read and just go on but since I had mentioned that I really disliked the scenario I thought it I should at least try to play it correctly before writing it off. So here I am once again playing Chance Encounter. Once again, this report has pictures of unpainted minis. You may want to hide any small children before reading.
Pregame
So prior to playing the game again I reworked the Elven army but kept the Dwarf army unchanged. I removed the Ballista since it could never really score. I changed the Spearmen to Soldiers to save some points and then added a Necromancer to try to keep the Revenants replenished. I also added another Cavalry model as well as two more Revenant Warrior models to try and soak up some casualties.
So the plan is for the Elves to split their units across the table to try and spread the Dwarven defenders as much as possible and negate the troop advantage that the Dwarves will eventually have. The Dwarven defenders have picked the same units to deploy but in this instance the Archers have been placed aside the Captain so they get some additional distance to shoot at oncoming Elves. The Elves have picked the Cavalry, Mounted Spellcaster and Soldiers to deploy. The Spellcaster will cast Smoke to protect the Cavalry and then swoop in to try to take out the Dwarven Catapult. The Elven Soldiers are cheap and I hope to use them to soak up some casualties before the better troops get on the table. They are just going to run as fast as they can to get to the victory zone.
Turn 1
The Dwarves win initiative. The Catapult has no targets in range so the Dwarves activate and bring on the Border Guards. The Elves respond by activating the Revenant Warriors and positioning them in the middle of the table. Seeing a threat in the centre the Dwarves activate the Militia. They are one of the faster Dwarf units so should be able to get in front of the archers and Captain.
The Elves attempt to bring on the Revenant Linebreakers but fail. Thinking that the monsters might be troublesome to get on the table, the Dwarves next activate an Eachy which continues its unusual pattern of passing all its activation checks. And then, after some trigonometry, the Elves activate their Archers and hope they are placed out of range of the Heavy Catapult.
The Dwarf Captain moves forward but is careful to ensure that all the units near him are within 6″. The Elven Spellcaster moves towards the Catapult and tries to cast a Fireball on it but fails with a roll of a double 1. The Heavy Catapult inches forward and then finally the Elven cavalry sprint down the table edge.
At the end of the turn there are no casualties. The Elves has three units off-table and the Dwarves have five. The Elves should really have only two left which shows the advantage that they can get in this scenario when the player reads the actual special rules.
Turn 2
The Elves win initiative and once again fail to activate the Revenant Linebreakers. So much for that plan. The Dwarven Border Guards advance and take aim at the Elven Cavalry. They need 11s to hit and make what would normally be an incredible roll but they still fail to hit.
The Elves activate their Necromancer who has nothing to do but he positions himself next to the Revenants and waits. The Eachy activates (again!) and storms off towards the Elven Soldiers. The plan for the Dwarves is to try to put strong units in front of the 12″ ‘goal’ line for the Elves to stop them before they can get across.
The Elves bring on the Linebreakers and position them behind the Soldiers. The Soldiers can block for them and take any ranged fire or spells. The Dwarves try to bring on their second Eachy and it gets positioned next to the Border Guards to try to help stop the upcoming wave of Elven riders. How it is that I can’t cast a Fireball but make every activation roll for the Eachys is something that needs to be investigated.
The Elven Spellcaster moves forward and then casts a wall of smoke in front of the Border Guards. The Dwarves, being concerned about the upcoming block of cavalry, bring on the Dwarven Spearmen and position them close to the Border Guards.
The Elven run their Revenant Warriors forward hoping that the Dwarf Archers will waste some shots at them. The Dwarves activate their final off-board unit for the turn and bring on their Spellcaster who will try to cast Explosive Ammunition next turn. The Elves run their Soldiers straight at the Eachy and the Dwarven Archers take aim at the Revenants. They need 7s to hit and do two wounds. The Revenants auto-pass their Morale Check but take an additional hit due to Uncaring.
The Elven Archers wheel and then move forward to position themselves to fire on the Dwarf Archers next turn. The Dwarves activate their Heavy Catapult and I realise that I should have fired it before the Archers since the Revenants now only have one full rank due to the damage done by the Archers. Oh well. Lesson learned. The Catapult fires and only does a single wound. Not much but at least the Necromancer can now no longer ‘heal’ the Revenants back up to two full ranks.
To end the turn all the remaining units move forward except for the Dwarf Captain who stays where he is to maximize the impact of his Command ability. The Elvish Cavalry is now within charge range of everything in front of it and since you don’t need LOS for a charge the smoke is no hindrance to them.
Turn 3
The Elves win initiative and, is usual with turn three, face a tough choice. The Elven Cavalry appear safe for the moment (the Border Guards need 10s to hit) so the decision is made to try to see if the Spellcaster can Fireball the Catapult or perhaps the Dwarven Spellcaster. The Spellcaster is activated and after much mental arithmetic juggling the chances of failing Morale Checks versus killing a Spellcaster, the roll for the Fireball Spell is a double 3 and it was all for nought.
The Dwarven Border Guard decide to throw caution to the wind (or maybe the smoke?) and try to activate to advance into said smoke and fire off a round of ranged attacks at the Cavalry. They must have not thought too much about that idea as they failed to activate. Instead they move backwards so the Elves will face a flank charge from the Spearmen if they decide to take on the Border Guard.
The Elven Archers take aim at their Dwarven counterparts and do four wounds. The calming influence of the nearby Captain enables them to pass their Morale Check but they have lost almost an entire rank. The Dwarf Spellcaster activates and moves behind the Catapult so it blocks LOS from the Elven Spellcaster and then casts Explosive Ammunition on the Catapult.
The Necromancer activates and attempts to cast Revive on the Revenants but fails. The Eachy, facing the Elven Soldiers, moves sideways and then forwards slightly to make it easier for the Dwarven Militia to flank charge the Elven Soldiers if they engage.
The Elven Linebreakers storm forward (getting slightly closer to the goal line) and then the Dwarves activate their second Eachy. It advances slightly so that it will catch any charge from the Elven Cavalry that goes straight forward. The Elves are finally able to bring on the Revenant Linebreakers and the Dwarves celebrate their arrival by firing a load of explosive catapult ammo at them. The Catapult gets five dice and hits on 5s but only does three wounds plus one more for Uncaring.
The Elven Soldiers move forward and then use their second action to move into combat. After their initial move the Officer for the unit is now in the Eachy’s flank and so the Soldiers get an unexpected flank charge.
They end up needing 7s to hit and get three wounds on the Eachy. The flank charge doesn’t really impact the Eachy but activating previously in the turn does. It also needs 7s and fails to get a single hit. With Command(2) it needs an 8 to pass a Morale Check and fails. The Elves push it back 6″ but this isn’t enough to push it into the Dwarven Militia. (This is actually incorrect. Neither side took any casualties so this should have been a draw since the Eachy only took wounds and not any casualties)
The Dwarves activate their Linebreakers and bring them on right across from the still celebrating Elven Soldiers. Let’s see how long they continue to celebrate with a flank charge staring down at them?
The Elven Cavalry decide to accept the Eachy’s challenge and then push through the smoke and plow into the beast. They need 5s to hit and with the one additional damage form the Champion Dice they actually destroy the Eachy. Which I didn’t actually want to do. I wanted it to survive and then be pushed back into the Border Guards. Oops. The Eachy is unable to do any damage and so the Elven Cavalry is now in the 12″ zone and unscathed.
In order to help cover the flank the Dwarves activate their Soldiers. to try to take the Eachy’s place but they fail and so stay off-table.
The Dwarven Militia pivot to avoid a flank charge next turn as do the Spearmen on the other side of the table. Finally the Dwarven Archers let loose a volley at the Revenant Warriors and do two wounds. Due to Uncaring the Revenants take a further wound leaving them with just a single rank of models.
At the end of the turn the Eachy recovers a wound and the Elven smoke remains on the table.
Turn 4
The Dwarves win initiative and decide to try to see if the Border Guards can do some damage against the horde(ish) of Elven Cavalry right in front of them. Sadly they don’t do a single wound and have to sit and ponder their fate. Its not a good ponder.
The Elven Soldiers activate next. They want to avoid getting a flank charge from the Dwarven Linebreakers so they flank charge the Eachy. They do two wounds, which isn’t enough to kill it, and the Eachy does a single hit back. This is enough to win combat for the Eachy who pushes the Elven Soldiers back and lines them up for the very flank charge they were hoping to avoid.
The Dwarves attempt to activate their Spellcaster and she fails on three dice. There is a 2.7% chance of this according to my stats software. No Explosive Ammunition this turn. Showing how it is done, the Elven spellcaster moves forward to get a full LOS to the area in the middle of the table and casts Smoke to cover both units of Revenants. Bloody showoff.
Not wanting to tempt fate any further, the Dwarves activate the Linebreakers and send them into the exposed flank of the Elven Soldiers. The Dwarves roll poorly and only get three wounds despite needing 5s to hit. The Elves, unsurprisingly, inflict no wounds in return and are pushed back 6″ and outside of the victory zone. I think I remember this play from last game.
The Elves get their Archers to move forward and target the Heavy Catapult. Since they have Aimed Fire they can ignore the Dwarven Archers and Warriors. They get three wounds (again!?) and even though they need only a 6 or better on three dice the Catapult fails its Morale Check and is Disordered.
The Elves run their Linebreakers forward and then the Dwarven Archers are activated to fire on the Elven Archers. They do two wounds and the Elves pass their Morale Check. The Necromancer activates and tries to cast Revive. It fails. The Dwarves attempt to activate the Heavy Catapult. It succeeds and is no longer Disorganized but cannot fire.
The Revenant Linebreakers fail their activation and can only do a single move forward. The Dwarven Captain wheels and then moves forward to get itself into a better position in case it loses the Archers and Catapult. The Revenant Warriors also fail their activation roll but have enough movement to make it through the smoke. And following a trend (they are so easily influenced) the Dwarven Spearmen also fail their activation and move in closer to try to make a charge next turn after the Elven Cavalry savages the Border Guard.
In a fitting end to the turn, the Elven Cavalry charge into the Border Guard. I spend quite some time seeing if I can wheel or pivot myself into a position where I can make a flank charge but the table and the length of my bases aren’t co-operating. Sadly it will have to be a frontal charge.
The Elves need 2s to hit and despite this only get four wounds, missing twice. How is this possible? The Border Guards need 12s to hit. Happily for them they can still hit on a 10 and they luckily do that once and inflict a casualty on the Elven Cavalry. Luckily an extra Cavalry model was purchased for just this very reason. The Dwarves are pushed back 1″ so that the Spearmen won’t be able to charge. The Elves and the Dwarves both pass their Morale Checks which is a bit surprising since the Dwarves needed an 8.
At the end of the turn the remaining Eachy recovers a wound and both Smoke walls stay in place.
Turn 5
The Elves win initiative on turn 5. After pondering whether the Dwarven Spearmen can wheel or pivot into a position to charge past the Border Guards, the Elves decide that the best option for the Cavalry is to wheel and then move backwards so they present a front flank to both units and are still past the 12″ line.
The Dwarves are tired of the Elven Spellcaster smoking the battlefield up so their Spellcaster activates and casts a Lightning Bolt. It only needs a 5 to hit but importantly rolls the Champion Dice. The spell shooting roll is a 9 so the Elven Spellcaster, and his poor horse, are turned to dust by the power of Dwarven Lightning.
The Elven Archers advance and decide to pour some fire into the Dwarven Archers. The Dwarf Captain is blocking LOS to the Catapult (lets pretend that was a plan and not an accident) so that isn’t a valid target. The Elves do two wounds and the Dwarven Archers fail a 3 dice Morale Check. The Dwarf Linebreakers rush forward and hit the Disordered Elven Soldiers in the flank. They get six hits (thank you Champion Dice) to none from the Soldiers and eliminate the unit. Not good news for the Elves.
The Elven Linebreakers are enraged by this and charge into the Dwarven Linebreakers. Not only are they the same unit but they both have a Champion. The Elves need 6s to hit and the Dwarves need 7s since they activated this turn. The Elves do five hits and, wildly, the Dwarves do none in return. They make up for this statistical fluke by passing a Morale Check on a 9.
The Dwarf Captain activates his Warriors and they wheel out of the way so the Catapult can fire and also so they can put their right flank facing the mine cart terrain piece. The Elves see this and move the Revenant Warriors so they block LOS from the Catapult to the Archers. It can still fire but it will have a +1 to the target number if it chooses to fire at the Elven Archers.
The Heavy Catapult activates next and decides to fire at the Revenant Warriors as they are close enough to move into the goal zone. Without Explosive Ammunition the Catapult only does one wound to the Warriors. It is a non-scoring unit now though unless the Necromancer can do something about that (Foreshadowing alert)
The Necromancer decides to activate and see what all that foreshadowing talk was about. Apparently it was about something else as he rolls a 3 for his spell check and fails to cast Revive. Again.
In a total surprise move, the Dwarven Militia is able to wheel and flank charge the Elven Linebreakers. Certainly the Dwarves didn’t see that coming. The Militia need 5s to hit and one of their rolls is a 10 so they do three wounds. Even hit on the flank, the Linebreakers do two in return but it isn’t enough and the Militia win the combat and push the Elven Linebreakers back 1″. The Elves, surprisingly, fail their morale check which might be a problem next turn.
The Revenant Linebreakers sprint through the smoke and try to get closer to the goal line. The Dwarves then activate the Border Guard who wheel backward, to protect their flank, and fire a volley at the Elven Cavalry. They finally take down a Cavalry trooper (Yay!) and the Elven Cavalry barely makes their Morale Check.
After measuring, it is determined that the Dwarf Spearmen are just shy of being able to charge the Elven Cavalry so they move up slightly but try to keep the Border Guards slightly in front of them to possibly block a cavalry charge. The Dwarven Archers rally and take a shot at the Revenant Warriors but miss entirely. The last remaining Eachy rallies (how are they still making these activation rolls?) and pivots to face the Elven Linebreakers who are really not looking like they are in a good position.
At the end of the turn the Eachy restores a wound and both smoke walls stay in place.
Turn 6
In what is a first, the Elves enter turn 6 with enough units left to actually be able to win the game. Odds are that the Linebreakers won’t survive the turn (is this the foreshadowing I meant earlier?) but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the Necromancer will Revive a Revenant (there it is again!)?
The Elves win initiative but I don’t see how it is doing them any favours as they are in a rather precarious position. Picking the least of two bad situations, the Elves decide to rally the Linebreakers and wheel them backwards so they will take a front charge from any of the three Dwarven units facing them.
That leaves the Dwarves to do the inevitable charge with their Spearmen at the Elven Cavalry. Even with their additional ranks the Spearmen need 8s to hit and actually manage to get three hits. Ouch! The Elves need 6s and also score three hits thanks to the Champion Dice. It is a draw and both units are moved back 1″. Sadly the Dwarves pass their Morale Check but the lone Elven Champion fails his.
In what is a crazy move but just might work, the Elves advance their Revenant Warriors to 1″ in front of the Dwarf Archers. They can’t attack but this will stop the Catapult from being able to draw LOS to the unit. It is a cheap move but I am okay with it. The Dwarven Militia prepare to charge the Elven Linebreakers but fail their activation roll (maybe they should get an Eachy Champion?) and so they remain in place.
The Elven Archers creep 6″ forward and loose some arrows at the Heavy Catapult. The Dwarves remember to use Shielding this time but it is for nought and the Catapult is destroyed. After some measuring it is determined that the Eachy is out of charge range and so the Dwarves elect to activate the Linebreakers who can just reach the Elven Linebreakers. Something must be in the air in this flank (maybe it is all the smoke?) and the Dwarven Linebreakers fail their activation roll and move forward slightly to better position themselves for next turn.
The Elves activate their Necromancer who runs into position behind the Revenant Warriors and manages to cast Revive! Huzzah! The Revenant Warriors are now a scoring unit. The Dwarves decide to do something about this and activate the depleted unit of Archers. They fail to get the message and fail their activation roll. So now the Dwarves need to determine if they want to shoot or if they want to move back. Since they can’t move back far enough to stay out of a charge they decide to shoot. They need 9s to hit and fail to get a single wound.
The Revenant Linebreakers try to activate next and they also fail. What is in that smoke? They wheel to position themselves for a possible charge next turn. The Dwarves remember that they have a unit of Soldiers off-table that they have forgotten about for two turns. They activate them and position them to deal with the Revenant Warriors.
The Eachy activates (again!) and moves forward to add an additional threat to the Elven Linebreakers. The Dwarven Spellcaster moves to a point where she can see the Revenant Linebreakers and tries to cast Lightning Bolt again. It succeeds! The Revenant Linebreakers take two wounds and an additional one for Uncaring. They are now no longer a scoring unit. More importantly, they are two models away from being a scoring unit so the Necromancer will have its work cut out trying to rebuild them.
To make sure that the Elves don’t have enough scoring units the Dwarf Captain decides to throw himself into the fight and orders a flank charge on the Revenant Warriors. This is a bit risky as it opens the unit up to a possible flank charge next turn but it is hoped that this will end the Elves ability to win the game. The Dwarven Warriors do three wounds to the Revenants who do none in return. That leaves the Elves with only two scoring units and so they concede the game.
Postgame thoughts
Well that was certainly a closer game than this scenario has been in the past. I still think that the Elves are handicapped in this scenario. Even fine-tuning the Elf army list prior to the game left me with six units that could score. The scenario requires you to have four units in the 12″ goal zone at any point to score. So the Elves could only have two units reduced to less than scoring strength and still win. That is not a lot for the defender to have to do to guarantee a win.
The scenario is also really troublesome for the Dwarves. I don’t see that they are fast enough to get across the table with enough units given the additional time it will take them.
It is actually a slightly more fun scenario that I initially thought (following the scenario rules will do that) but the Elves are just so fragile that I am really at a loss as to how to win this with them.
The Elven Cavalry were awesome. Until they got charged and then they fell apart. They are so expensive that you really can’t take a lot of them but fewer than six is just a recipe for disaster. I am still trying to work out the best way to use them. I would think that shielding them behind some other unit would be the answer but the Elves have so few units.
As is usual with Oathmark games, the activation rolls were a story in themselves. The Eachys didn’t fail even though they needed a 7 each time and then at one point the entire left flank of the Dwarven army decided to sit and have a rest due to failed activation checks. What I really like about Oathmark is that failing to activate and failing morale is not so frequent that it hinders the game (take that Dragon Rampant) but it can still come into play and effect the game in a fun way.
Pile of dice 
You must be logged in to post a comment.