Nemesis Crown Turn 1 Battle 2 - Bretonnia vs. Wood Elves at The Drakwald Deeps

 The second battle of our first campaign turn had the forces of Bretonnia against the Wood Elves!

While the Bretonnians and Wood Elves hold a long standing alliance with one another, sometimes there are mortal disagreements amongst their generals. 

The Bretonnians plan on finding and destroying the Nemesis Crown - such an artefact should never be allowed into the hands of anyone, lest it is used for unholy purpose. Sir Tristan has pledged to find, retrieve and exorcise the Nemesis Crown. When a Bretonnian makes a vow it is not easily broken.

The Wood Elves of Athel Loren are not so arrogant as to assume the Crown can be destroyed and would prefer that no-one should ever unearth it. Such magic is not to be taken lightly, and no mere mortal could possibly stand to resist temptation when faced with the artefact - the only logical course of action is to collapse the mine where the Crown was found and ensure all those who know of its location are eliminated. Only the mists of time and forgotten knowledge can shroud such an evil from the world. General Gwynion of the Ash Groves has been entrusted with the task.

The Bretonnian army ("Sir Tristan's Coterie") consisted of:

Sir Tristan, Grail Knight

Knights of the Realm (6)

Bowmen (10)

Men-at-Arms with spear & shield (5)

The Wood Elf army ("Gwynion's Guardians") consisted of:

Gwynion, Protector of the Ash Groves

Glade Riders (3)

Archers (10)

Glade Guard with spear & shield (10)

Most of the Wood Elf army was acquired by my friend Rick offering me a very reasonable price for some elf models he was parting with. The paintjobs on them are fantastic and I can't take any credit for them. Rick has a great blog with lots of fun Middle Earth AARs which you should definitely check out too: Grumpy Gnome Blog

The site for this encounter was the Drakwald Deeps, a wooded area filled with ancient chambered cairns embedded into rocky hills.

I decided to use my recently acquired Dreadhollow Forest trees (I purchased them to go alongside my upcoming Dwarven Forge Wildlands kickstarter pledge), and I thought they blended in quite well with the rest of the terrain. In the centre of the board we placed a rocky hill with two columns along one side of it to denote a cairn entrance.

The objective for this mission was to have the most points of units within 8" of the Cairn Hill by the end of turn 6.

I played Bretonnia and Laura played the Wood Elves.

The Drakwald Deeps

Sir Tristan's Coterie

Gwynion's Guardians

The armies are deployed

Laura's Wood Elf archers sneaking around in the trees as usual

My noble Bretonnians move out. I planned on swiftly dealing with the Wood Elf archers on the left flank with my Knights of the Realm, and I'd hold her main army on the right flank until the Realm Knights could assist with a charge to their rear

My bowmen killed a few Glade Guard in the first turn. Things were looking good for me - Laura was less pleased

The Glade Guard hold their formation. The mortals' paltry attempt at bowmanship is no cause for alarm

These archers were an attempt to 'uplift' some already painted models from eBay. I still need to redo the skin.

The Wood Elves respond to the aggressive humans by charging their general with their uncannily swift steeds!

Gwynion hit many times with her bow over the course of the battle, but consistently failed to wound with it.

Laura doing something shifty with her archers as usual.

Sir Tristan valiantly fights off the Glade Rider regiment.

The Glade Riders are defeated handily by the honourable Sir Tristan.

"With me, noble men of Bretonnia! The Lady wills it!"

The Realm Knights close in on the elven archers.

But the archers move through thicket and brush with ease and evade the mounted knights.

The men at arms turn about face, seeing their countrymen in peril.

The Glade Guard bear down upon the bowmen, this isn't a fight the bowmen stand to win.

Lovely custom bannerwork on the Glade Guard (I did not paint this).

Sir Tristan ride on and spots Gywnion in the distance.

The knights do their best to mount a charge against the elven archers, but it's as if the forest itself is against them.

Gwynion knocks another arrow into her bow, aiming for the Bretonnian general.

The Glade Guard have charged the bowmen and beaten them handily. One Glade Guard fell to a bowman's sword, but it is a solid victory and the remaining bowmen flee the battlefield.

The Bretonnian men-at-arms were not able to assist their companions in time.

The realm knights finally catch the elf archers in a light woodland patch and make short work of them.

Gwynion is alone and surrounded by steel-clad knights of Bretonnia!

"I shall handle this myself!" declares Sir Tristan

The knights of the realm march up to observe the battle between generals.

The Glade Guard turn about face, ready to engage more arrogant humans.

The men-at-arms fall back behind the thicket, hoping it will slow the advance of the Glade Guard enough to give Sir Tristan time to defeat the Wood Elf general.

Gwynion is a tougher adversary than Sir Tristan expected. He is severely wounded and calls for his fellow knights to assist against this devilishly nimble opponent.

The Glade Guard step through the woodland as if it were not there (I forgot about Wood Elves ignoring forest terrain!) and engage my outnumbered men-at-arms.

The men-at-arms quickly break and turn to flee but are mercilessly cut down by the Glade Guard, who can see their general surrounded by bloodthirsty mortals.

The knights surround the Wood Elf leader, but she parries and evades their lumbering swings with ease

The Glade Guard see that their general needs no assistance, and set up a watch on the entrance to the tomb.

Sir Tristan is finally struck a dire blow, and falls from his horse, defeated. Seeing their leader (and a Grail Knight no less) so shamefully beaten by one with all odds against her makes their faith waver. Perhaps the Lady is not with them this day? 
"'tis better to fall back and pray for guidance, methinks!" one of them declares as they turn tail and flee

At the end of Turn 6 there are more points of Wood Elves by the chambered cairn, and therefore the battle is won by Laura!

Gwynion's army retrieved an artefact from the cairn - 'Van Horstmann's Speculum'. A tiny mirror pendant which has the ability to reflect the fighting qualities of an enemy during a challenge.

The bearer can swap Strength, Toughness and Initiative values with their enemy during a Challenge.

Laura also gained 50pts to spend on her army, and decided to purchase the magic item 'The Bow of Loren' for Gwynion, which allows her hero to fire shots equal to her number of attacks, in addition this it has a Strength rating equal to the bearer's strength. This means Laura has effectively turned her general into a powerful rapid-fire sniper. I need to be careful of this in future battles!

Campaign Progress

It's the end of turn 1, and the Empire holds 2 territories, and the Wood Elves hold 2 as well.

• Wood Elves hold the Draken Downs & the Drakwald Deeps
• Empire hold The Talabec Border & The Barren Hills
• Bretonnia holds The Reik's Marches
• Greenskins hold The Taalford Lowlands

The Campaign map at the end of Turn 1