Enslaving the Empire : DE vs Empire 2.5k Battle

It was my 4th WFB game against an Empire army that has so far lost only once in 10+ games. It will be a hard game. To win, i must not make any mistake.

The Empire army has no such thing as the invincible Steamtank nor the Handgunners. But they do have 2 Great Cannons and 2 Mortars to deliver death from afar. For my frail dark kin, the large mortar template was the bane of our existence while the cannon was the worst thing to hit our favoured pet, the War Hydra.

The Empire are no less threatening in close combat with 3 large blocks of infantries (Greatswords, Halberdiers and Swordsmen) backed by a level 4 Light Wizard to match the speed of my elves. And they were supported by about 15 Knights of Inner Circle (KoIC) or something with 1+ Armour Save lead by an Arclechtor.

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DE list
lvl 4 Supreme Sorceress on Dark Pegasus
Master + 19 Black Guards
BSB on Cold One + 9 Cold One Knights
Assasin
30 Black Ark Corsairs
2x5 Dark Riders
2x7 Shades
War Hydra

Empire list
lvl 4 Wizard Lord
lvl 2 Wizard
Arclector
BSB
30 Halberdiers
30 Greatswords
30 Swordsmen
2 Great Cannon
2 Mortars

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Dawn Attack

It was dawn when we strike at the Empire, and we were very lucky indeed. Our initial strike, lead by the Assassin and 14 Shades manage to destroy one of the great cannon. This was a crutial move that ensure the survival of our War Hydra. Meanwhile the Dark Riders perform a hit and run manuver to pull the enemy Greatswords (GS) to within The Black Guard (BG) charging range.

The BG's charge was as great as always, but The Greatswords, imbued with The Speed of Light is no easy meat with their WS of 10. But we the Dark Elves are much superior being, Our Tower Master easily slain the GS Champion in a Challenge followed by a Lvl 2 Sorcerer in the later turn. In the 2nd round of combat, the combat was joined by the charging KoIC lead by the . The Great Master Erwin Draco, wielding The Soulrender challenged the Archlector in a duel which last for several rounds.

It was then that our Noble Cold One Knights charged the KoIC from the flank, and the Black Ark Corsairs to the flank of the GS and almost seal the fate of the Empire. Almost. The KoIC was Unbreakable, while the GS was insanely courageous (double 1s!!) that day. Meanwhile, after trading blows for 3 rounds, Master Erwin's blade finally come into contact with the Archlector's neck.. severing it completely off his body. The Archlector's head will be another trophy to adorn his dining table.

By this time, the horde of Swordsmen is readying to flankcharge my CoKnight. But their advanced was distrupted by our wickedly beautiful High Sorceress. Having eaten The Black Dragon's Egg, she unleashed the Noxious Breath to the column of warriors, killing more than a third of the swordsmen. The swordsmen were not panicked, but they were so much affected by the Noxious Breath that they failed in their attempt to charge my CoKnights (Note: Unit suffering casualty from Noxious Breath must pass Ld check at -3 if they want to charge). Without the Swordmen to support them, the GS and KoIC cannot stand any longer and was massacred completely. The winner succesfully reform and readying themselve to charge the Swordsmen in the next turn.

The War Hydra was lucky to suffer no injury as of yet and still retain it's breath weapon at the highest level (Strength 5). All these time the Dark Riders has been trying to goad the enemy to within it's range, but not with great success. What they failed to do was done spectacularly by the annoyingly accurate Shades and their Repeater Crossbow. The Halberdiers finally have had enough being harrassed by these Shades and charged them. The Shades hold their ground and die instantly (7 against 27 halberdiers.. hahaha). But their sacrifices set up the Halberdiers flank directly in front of the War Hydra. The set up was perfect and the War Hydra happily burned some 20+ halberdiers to death with its breath weapon, followed by a charge later on to finish the remaining survivors.

Just as the sun is nearing it's peak, The CoK along with Master Erwin Draco simultaneously charge the Swordsmen unit (frontal charge). The frail Wizard Lord was no match against Master Erwin, his blade easily cleaved the wizard into two while the CoK skewer some Swordmen with their lances. It was brutal and the Empire survivors completely surrender to the might of the Dark Elves.

Later that evening, long column of human slaves can be seen herded towards the sea, where the Black Arks is waiting to take them back to the Land of Chill. They are now slaves to the Dark Elves, for the rest of their life (That is, of course.. if they survive the journey hahaha!)

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Conclusion

The mortars were scary, even with just two can easily wipeout my Black Guards. But Arzmi made a huge mistake when he ignored them completely. It cost him the GS, KoIC, a lvl 2 Mage and the Archlector (Some 800 points in there i believe hahaha!). Now that he knew better, I dread the day when we meet again on the battlefield.

But for now, it was a spectacular win for me and my Fullmetal Sorceress. And the slaves.. simply said, Lord Malekith was happy :).