Battle Report 3: Bretonnians vs. Empire

Right, so the next game was 2,500 pts. against was against an Empire force out of Carroburg.  The scenario we rolled was 'Meeting Engagement', which meant that we'd have little time before coming to blows.  This suited my Bretonnians just fine, but was a tad annoying for my Imperial opponents with all their dishonorable black-powder weapons.

DEPLOYMENT

The Carroburgers decided to take the fight to me, deploying right at the limit of the meeting engagement line. The Empire were positioned on a diagonal line dividing the board, with an 'island of rock' in the centre.  Below you can see the right flank.  From left to right you can see the dreaded Carroburg Greatswords (along with a Shadow Wizard), then a line of handgunners and finally a steam tank.  Frustratingly for the Carroburgers, their devastating hellblaster volley gun and crossbowman were still on the march when the battle commenced, so they began the game losing valuable time w/ which to rain death down on the Bretonnians.

Below is a photo of the left flank.  I know the angle of the photo is terrible, we were in a bit of a rush to get the game in.  Anyway, from left to right were a mortar, a formidable unit of swordsmen lead by a ranting warrior priest hurling invective against my damsels (burn the witches!) and, atop the rocky outcrop, a great cannon.

I deployed my Bretonnians somewhat further back than the Carroburgers.  Again, this is a terrible photo to describe deployment, but it will have to do.  In the far right (furthest from camera, peaking out from behind the trees) I deployed a unit of nine knights of the realm (KoTR), next up was a hefty force of men-at-arms armed with halberds, then a large unit of knights errant (KE) with my battle-standard bearer (BSB) and a damsel, then another large unit of KoTR with my general and a damsel.  Rounding out the line was my Grail Knights.  My horde of longbowmen were still on the march when the game began and so I also lost some of my firing opportunities, though this was obviously less devastating for Bretonnians then Empire.  Note that when this photo was taken the Carroburg pistoliers had already used a vanguard move and movment to get in amongst my KoTR and Grail Knights.

The Game:

(NOTE: I haven't divided this game into turns because we were a bit rushed and didn't really get photos of each turn.  Also, this was played a while ago while I was still completing my thesis: mistakes I will have made!)

The game opened with a bang for the Carroburgers, as their mortar blew itself and its crew to smithereens.  The shadow wizard hurled all manner of diabolical spells at my KotR on the right flank, but only a reduction in toughness went through and the knight's faith in the Lady protected them from the hail of shot which rained down on them from the handgunners.  In their turn my KotR cantered up onto that rocky hill over there: my goal was to try to avoid the steam tank and punch a hole through the handgunners, but it was not to be...  My men-at-arms (off-screen to left) also marched forward and set their spears against the famed Carroburg greatswords (noone said the peasants were happy about being assigned this job).

Meanwhile on the far left flank my large unit of KoTR lead by my general, my KE lead by my battle standard bearer and my Grail Knights (GKs) ignored the ignoble pistoliers firing futilely at their flanks and began trotting towards the formidable horde of halberdiers lead by a zealous warrior-priest and a wizard.  We were all preparing for the impact in turns to come, but my Prophetess (who was probably sick of being called a witch by the ranting Sigmarite priest) called on the Dwellers Below, who reached up and pulled said warrior-priest, the wizard and a fair number of halberdiers into the earth.  As it turned out the remaining halberdiers were so terrified of the Lady of the Lake that they turned tail and fled, effectively ceding control of the left half of the battlefield to the Bretonnians.

Indeed, in the following Empire turn the remaining halberdiers continued their flight right off the board, leaving my general's KoTR and the GKs to advance unopposed around the central rock formation and BEHIND the Carroburger's right flank (the Greatswords, handgunners and steam tank) - you can see my knights coming round the bend, somewhat bewildered by the disintegration of the halberdier block, in the picture above.  With the halberdiers taken care of my BSB changed direction with her impetuous KEs, moving around the rock formation in the other direction to get ready to hit the Greatswords in the flank (see below) even as the KoTR and GKs assaulted the rear.

In the meantime, things had not gone quite so smoothly for the Bretonnians on the right flank.  The Carroburg greatswords hurled themselves at the peasant men-at-arms (see above), who were no match for this renowned regiment despite outnumbering them considerably.

Despite my efforts, the Steam Tank charged into my KotR and spent several turns grinding away at them.  Though they had lost their opportunity to charge and found themselves futilely banging at the steamtank with their handweapons, these KotR were probably the unit of the match, because they just refused to be killed off or break.  Adding to the Carroburger's frustration, the delayed hellblaster and crossbowmen had finally arrived but were now unable to find a target amidst the swirling melees engulfing the battlefield.  The crossbowmen ran into the KotRs flank, hoping to help the Steam Tank make shorter work of them, and finally the three remaining KoTRs broke, but by then they had effectively kept the Steam Tank, Hellblaster and Crossbowmen out of the battle.

The Carroburger's proud banner-bearer issued a challenge, and the brave but woefully outclassed captain of the men-at-arms stepped up only to be cut down by the Imperial veteran.  The Carroburg greatswords lived up to their reputation, smashing through the men-at-arms and putting them to flight.  The Greatswords pursued the men-at-arms, but were then charged in the rear by the Bretonnian KEs under the command of their BSB, who had arrived one turn too late to support the beleaguered peasants.

Unfortunately we had to leave the game there, and my opponent was generous enough to concede me a victory.  My KEs had ploughed into the back of the Carroburg Greatswords and my full strength GKs and KotR were one turn away from charging into the fray.  Also, the remaining Carroburg right flank was scattered and they were now weak in the magic department (one wizard and the warrior priest had been pulled to his doom by dwellers, I can't remember what happened to the more powerful wizard but I remember magic being severely hampered for the Carroburgers for some reason - might have been a death or level reduction through miscast).

Still, having had a large block of greatswords see their way through a unit of KotR, GKs and mounted yeomen in a more recent battle I am not ENTIRELY convinced that the game was mine - my opponent has a knack for stealing victory from the jaws of defeat and I think his concession was very generous.

This game also showed me for the first time some of the potential problems with 8th Ed. re: the power of magic.  Don't get me wrong, I still think that 8th Ed. is one of the best balanced editions, but the relative effectiveness of magic vs. other ranged attacks (war machines, and ESPECIALLY shooting) can make cannons, archers etc. seem a bit redundant.  Also, it seemed a bit 'wrong' to demolish an entire unit (heroes included) with dwellers below, though I think these large spells do serve a function in an edition in which steadfast horde infantry are very very difficult to break.

All in all a great game, though it would have been fantastic to see it through.