Wednesday 24 September 2014

"The Battle at the Tower" (or Trouble at Mill) a 5,000 point 3rd Edition Battle Report (Part Two).

Day Two of the battle started about 9:30am on the Sunday, and we had 7 hours left of the day ahead of us....

Day Two.

Turn 6.
Slann:
.... and so Turn 6 began with the left and centre of my army still  routing. So it was time to pull together what remained of my army to avoid being run off the battlefield and to keep the pressure on the Wood Elves.
The battlefield, start of Day Two.
The routing left wing and centre of the army... 
...not good which every angle you looked at it!

In the centre, the Eagle Warriors charged the Wood Elven Lord's cavalry, stopping them from charging me and negating their lances on the charge. To the Eagle Warriors right, the Jaguar Warriors charged Skarloc's archers. By the mill Gurggl Greenwake and the Bull Slann regiment advance towards a large regiments of Wood Elven Kinband. Meanwhile, the Flying Gargoyles of Barda finally reached the target for which they were summoned, and charge the second treeman on my left. 
 Gargoyles flock around the Treeman. 

Before the close combat, the Venom Tribe next to the Jaguar Warriors decided to take long range pot shots at the Archers on the hill behind Skarlocs. A few lucky shots, and rolling high usufully for a change resulted in 2 dead archers.
In the melee between the Eagle Warriors and Elven Cavlary, the Elven General StarLight StarBright challenged the Level 20 Slann hero to personal combat, which was accepted. Striking first, Starbright used his magical sword with Degenerative Strike, wounding the Slann hero who's toughness was 5, and reducing his toughness by D6, which with a roll by Justin of 4, reduced it to 1. A dangerous 5 point sword against Slann heroes!  In response the kitten weak Slann failed to land wound. The surronding Elves and Slann failed to make an impact of the overall melee, resulting in the Slann winning the combat due to ranks, and pushing the cavalry back.
The Jaguar Warriors faired better, with the single combat between Skarloc and the Level 15 Slann hero resulting in Skarloc losing a wound. However, due to the Elves 'Battlecall' magical instrument and the magical 'War Banner' standard, the combat was a draw. 
The Jaguar Warriors attacking Skarlocs Wood Elven Archers (Lord's Bowmen). 

Between these two combats, the Pond Dragon continued to fight the Chariot, killing one of the crew this turn. On the far right of my flank the Spawn Band fighting the Wardancers at the river had more luck. The Wardancers attempted to use the Transfix ability, but failed, and in the resulting fight the Slann killed 3 Wardancers with no loss to themselves, and pushing the Wardancers back again.
Pushing the Wardancers back again!

On the other side of the battlefield the other Wardancers had more luck, killing on of the routing Spawn Band Slann as a result of a free hack whilst pursuing. The Gargoyles, who needed a 6 to wound the Treeman, failed. The Treeman could not wound any of the Gargolyes as he did not have magical attacks and cannot damage these supernatural creatures. This is why I summomned them, keep the very powerful Treeman tied up, a sneaky trick, but I personally did'nt think they would make it there alive as I thought there would be more magical Elven weapons. It's also why I did'nt summon anymore, as it would be a little unfair and take the fun out of the game. 
The Treeman now surrounded.

Magic wise, the Yellow and Orange Mages, for want of anything better to do drew some magic points from the Talismanic War Altar and shot a Lighting Bolt each at the Archer regiment on the hill, killing one each. Meanwhile the Green Mage had other idea, summons 7 Skeletons to bolster the Slann forces. 
Skeletons! (from Justin's collection) 

Other than the magic, the Spawn Band and Alliagator Warriors rallied, but the others still routed, failing again to re-join the battle. 

Wood Elves:
By the hamlet, theTreeman not being harrased by Gargoyles charged into the newly rallied Spawn Band, and promptly killing 4 Slann,  with a little help from a Wardancer.
The Treeman charges!

The only other Elven movement was to move the Warrior Kinband back away from Gurggl and the Bull Slann by the mill. 
Elven shooting by the Archers on the hill by the Hamlet was impessive, more for the actual imagined shooting rather than the results. Shooting thruoght the hamlet and at maxiumum range, the Archers killing 2 Bull Slann, shooting them in the back as they were fleeing! 
 Long shot from the distant Elf Archers! 

In other shooting, the Glade Riders shot at Gurggl's adopted Bull Slann regiment, killing 2 of them. 
In the closecombat phase the Dragon killed another crewman, but was still locked in combat with the Chariot. The delicate Eagle Warrior hero with Toughness 1 lost 2 wounds to Skarloc, hanging on with 1 wound, but failing to wound  the Elven General StarLight StarBright. However one of the Eagle Warriors killed an Elven Lord, and so the Slann won the combat again, and pushed the Elves back.
StarLight StarBright and the Elven Lord's Fighting the Slann Eagle Warriors, while next to them the Dragon chips slowly away at the Chariot. 

Meanwhile the Jaguar Warriors and Skarloc's regiment killed one of each other, drawing the combat again, with the Gargyles failing to wound the Treeman.
In the Elven Magic phase, Kaia Stormwitch in Skarlocs regiment casts cure light wound on Skarloc, restoring him to health. The Zoat, decides to fireball the Skeletons, cremating one of what was once buried.

Turn 7.
Slann:
The Alligator Warriors had now reformed after their embassing rout, and now headed back toward the action.
The Alliagator Warriors re-joining the fray.

In addition the three Mages moved forward behind the melee's ensuing. Gurggl Greenwake and the Bull Slann charge the Wood Elven Warrior Kinband regiment which Justin thought was just out of range. On the downside the Jungle Braves routed of the table, never to be seen again.
Gurggl Greenwake and the Bull Slann regiment about to charge. Contary to Justins calculations, I had (just) enough movement to wheel and charge.

Shooting by the Venom tribes next to the Jaguar Warriors resulted in nothing hit. 
In melee, Gurggl Greenwake challenged the Level 5 Elven Hero of the Kinband to personal combat and killed him with ease. That was the only death in the whole melee, and the combat was a draw, and the regiments front ranks neated up for next turn. 
The Elven General also had good hunting, killing the Level 20 Slann Hero, but the combat ended in a draw. The Spawn Band at the river near the mill succeded in killing all of the last of the Wardancers, but were now a clear target for the Glade Riders bows next Elven turn! 
The Pond Dragon finally smashed the Chariot to pieces, with the crew failing thier armour saves and dying. The Gargoyles failed to wound the Treeman, and the Jaguar Warriors lost 3 Slann in combat, were pushed back, but held their ground. Strangely the other Treeman (three 1's and a 2 to hit! ) and the Wardancers failed to kill a single Slann, but the Slann killed 3 Wardancer, leaving only one remaining.
The Dragon now free to choose another target whilst the totem Warriors still fight it out and the Mages lurk behind them.

The Green Slann Mage flushed with Necromantic success raised another 8 Skeletons and faced them towards the Treeman. The Orange and Yellow Slann Mages decided to try Lighting Bolts again. One Lighting Bolt can be cast per level, and each does D3 damage, so using the dwindling supply of Magic Points from the Talismanic War Altar they cast the spell three times each against the Wood Elf Glade runners hiding behind the hegde, bringing down a veritable storm down upon them,  killing 9 out of the 10 of them! 

In even better news, the Bull Slann, Warriors Priests, and the Orange fleshed Venom Tribes all rallied just a couple inches from the table edge.

Wood Elves:
The lone Wood Elf Glade Runner moved over to the Archers on the hill by the hamlet, completing the Wood Elf movement phase. However the shooting of the archers and revenge of the lone Glade Runner resulted in them shooting the Orange Slann Mage, killing 3 of his litter Bearers and wounding the venerable Slann himself. The otherside of the mill the Glade Riders shot and killed 3 Spawn Band. 
In Close Combat, the Elf Kinband failed to kill any Slann but Gurggl Greenwake killed 3 Elves, and the regimental Slann Hero kills another Elf, pushing the regiment back.
Gurggl Greenwake fighting the Wood Elf Kinband.

The now leaderless Eagle Warriors kill an Elven Lord's trooper, but lose one of their own to StarLight StarBright, however they still manage to push the Elves back. 
The Jaguar Warriors wound an Elf and Skarloc, but the combat is drawn. The Gargoyles hold the Treeman in combat again without wounding him (or her?). The other Treeman kills 4 Slann in the Spawn Band, with the Slann killing the last Wardancer in return. However they are pushed back, and rout, with the Treeman killing another Slann with a Free Hack as they flee, but the Treeman does'nt pursue.
The Centre of the battlefield end of Turn 7. 

The Elven Magic phase consists of two spells. The Zoat fires a fireball as the Orange Slann Mage, but fails to wound. Kaia Stormwith cures another light wound on Skarloc. 

Turn 8. 
 Slann:
On the Slann left flank the Spawn Band are still routing, but this time not causing panic.
The newly recovered Bull Slann move along the back of my deployment zone, hidingfrom the long range archery of the Wood Elves the otherside of the hamlet, and the Treeman the other side of the hill.
The Bull Slann advancing along the back of the battefield towards the army centre.

Near them, the Warrior Priests also advanced to the centre of the battlefield. Meanwhile, the Orange Venom Tribe advanced on the left flank to psotion themselves behind the Treeman. One of the units of Skeletons was advanced towards the Treeman, whilst the other was moveed toward Skarlocs Elves. 
In the centre of the Pond Dragon passed his Binding Test and continued to fight for the Slann, and then charged Skarlocs regiment in the side. 
Another combat for the Pond Dragon. 

The Spawn Band the otherside of the mill was stuck in front of the Glade Riders bowfire. So they took and passed a leadership test to form a Testudo, giving them a +2 save, but halving their move, and then advanced forward towards the Glade Riders.
In the Slann shooting phase the Venom Tribe in the centre of the army had nothing to shoot at, and so retreated to the comfort and protection of the Pond. The Venom Tribe shadowing the Treeman shot at said Treeman, and rolled a Strength 6 for the strength of their posion! This lead to the Slann causing 2 wounds on the Treeman! Justin was unconvinced that posion would work on a Treeman, but I suggested the Slann had used copper nails dipping in weed killer!
Slann Venom Tribe, hunting a Treeman! 

In melee, the Eagle Warriors and the Elven Lord's fail to cause wounds, but again the rank bonus means the Slann push the Elves back. 
The Pond Dragon took advantage of being able to kill soft and squishy things for a change by killing 4 Elves, while the Jaguar Warriors lost one of their warriors. However, the result was that Skarlocs Wood Elves were pushed back up onto the hill.
Behind the same hill, Gurggl Greenwake and the Bull Slann regiment managed to win the close combat and push back the Kinband after killing 4 Elves.
In the Magic Phase the Orange and Yellow Slann Mages encouraged with their previous success with Lighting Bolts tried to thier luck at the Zoat, but failed to inflict any wounds. The Green Mage raised 11 more Skeletons, and postioned them facing the Treeman. The Warrior Priests magical 'Bane Banner' tried, and failed, to scare off the Treeman.
More Skeletons, raised to face the Treeman. 

Remarkably there was only one regiment of Slann routing, the Slann Spawn Band, but they failed to rally.

Wood Elves:
To add to the Spawn Bands woes the Treeman charged them as they were routing, and in the following combat killed 3 Slann. Also charging into combat, the Zoat charged into the melee between the Elven Lord's and the Eagle Warriors.
The centre of the battlefield.

Before the melee, the Elven shooting phase saw the Archers on the hill by the Hamlet concentrated their bow power upon the poor Orange Slann Mage. While he himself was not harmed, his last litter bearer was killed, thus forcing him to pollute his soul and walk upon the naked ground, and losing his ablity to cast anything above level 2 Magic.
 In the centre of the battle the Elven General StarLight StarBright and his Elven Lord's Eagle Warriors with the help of the Zoat. They killed 3 Slann, pushed them back, but still failed to break them from combat.
To their side the Jaguar Warriors and Skarloc's bowmen fought each other to a bloody draw, killing 3 Elves and 3 Slann respectively. Behind the hill the Warrior Kinband held Gurggl Greenwake and the Bull Slann to a draw.
As Skarloc was still on his full number of wound, Kaia Stormwitch cast cause panic on the Jaguar Warriors in an attempt to end the combat, but the Slann passed the Will Power test with ease.
The SlannWarrior Priests and War Altar heading back into battle.

Turn 9.
Slann:
The Skeletons closest to the Treeman charged him, partly with the hope of scaring him off, partly with the aim of slowing him down. He did'nt runaway scared, but in the melee the Treeman did destroy 3 Skeletons, but was still locked in combat for another turn.
The other side of the mill the Testudo Spawn Band continued to shuffle thier way forward, but gave up the hope of ever reaching the Glade Riders and moved toward the buildings by the mill. 
The other Spawn band contuinued to rout off the table, whilst the rest of the army carried on advancing toward the centre of the battlefield, except for the Orange Venom Tribe who advance around the side of the Hamlet. In addition one group of Skeletons moved toward the Eagle Warriors to lend support in combat, whilst the other group moved toward the Treeman in a hope of slowing him down again when he had finished dispatching  the other Skeletons.
There was no Slann shooting, as all the blowpipes were all out of range.

The Zoat, the Elven General StarLight and the Elven Lord's suddenly sprang into bellicosity killing 5 Slann! This led to the last remaining Slann being pushed back and then routing from combat.
Look, routing again! 

To add to this routing, Skarloc's regiment managed to killed a Slann, whilst Skarloc himself wounded the Dragon. Both the Jaguar Warriors and Dragon were pushed back and then proceed to rout. Skarloc and his regiment declined to pursue, keeping possession of the hill.
Despite the routing, no one panicked, and the Warrior Priests were still advancing to plug the gap. 

Behind the triumphant Skarloc, Gurggl and his force succeded in killing 3 more Elves, pushing them back, and forcing them to rout. He and his associated regiment declined to follow up. 
Glam the Wardancer from Skaloc's regiment shouts out a challange to the Slann, while Gurgg Greenwake consolidates his forces ready to accept. 

On the otherside of the battlefield, the Treeman engaging with the Skeletons kills another 3, and the Gargoyles finally manage to wound their trapped Treeman.
In the Slann Magic phase the Skaloc's triumph is shortlived. The Orange and Yellow Slann Mages drain the last few points for magical reserve from the Talismanic War Altar (leaving only 3 points left in it) and hurl 3 Lighting Bolt spells apeice at Skarloc's regiment killing 6 of them, but failing to rout them off the hill.
In the foreground the routing Jaguar Warriors and Dragon pass by the (unrouted) Venom Tribes. Just visable are the sole remianed survivours of Skarloc's regiment; Kaia Stormwitch, Glam the Wardancer, and Skarloc himself. 

Wood Elves:
The Wood Elves on the hill by the hamlet stood their ground, preparing to defend the hill and use their elevated position to shoot their bows when a target presented itself. In the centre the Elven Lord's and the Elven General StarLight StarBright spent the turn re-organising themselves after the long melee with the Eagle Warriors. The Zoat too did'nt move, preferring to stay close to the Elven Cavalry.
Skarloc's Wood Elf archers shot at the last Eagle Warrior, failing to kill him. On the other side of the battle, the Glade Riders shot at Gurggl's Bull Slann regiment, killing one of them.
In close combat the Gargoyles failed again to wound the Treeman, whilst the other Treeman killed another 3 Skeletons.
In the Magic phase the Zoat fireballed the Orange Slann Mage, wounding, and then routing him.

Turn 10.
Slann:
...never happened :(

We ran out of time. We had fought the battle for about 18 hours over two days, but we had to leave the battle at the 'what if..?' stage. Perhaps another 2 or 3 turns would have lead to a conclusive result?
The centre of the battlefield at the end of the game. 

In our post-battle discussions Justin suggested that we had fought each other to a draw. I was slightly more convinced that given time the Wood Elves would win.

 The Elves still had one active Treeman which I was convinced no amount of copper nails shot from blowpipes might kill. Also the two Cavalry regiments would be far too mobile for my footslogging Slann to chase down. The Zoat, low on magic points could still be a close combat problem, whilst the remianing Archers could still inflict some damage. Most of all the Elven General StarLight StarBright was still alive and wielding his Degeneration Strike sword.

On the positive side for the Slann, I still had my army general Gurggl Greenwake, with his 10 Bull Slann including a Level 10 hero; another 18 Bull Slann with their Level 10 Hero; 17 Venom Tribes (in two units); 10 Warrior Priests plus the War Altar and a further 4 Priest Guards; 8 Alligator Warriors; 10 Spawn Band; 8 Jaguar Warriors (ok, routing, but I still had them!); 1 Eagle Warrior; the Pond Dragon; 10 Gargoyles and 18 Skeletons (although Instablity might put pay to them); and of course 3 Mages, although they were now low on Magic points.
So maybe I could have won or fought on to a more convincing draw? 

Conclusion.

I had forgotten how much I really enjoyed playing Warhammer 3rd Edition. It was more fun than playing current edition (although if I do game now it's usually 40K). Apart from great memories, the game just seemed to have more substaince and soul it to.

Saying that though, there was the scope for the unbalanced games which I recall from years ago. Some of the lower level spells such as Vortex of Chaos and Dust Storm are very destructive. Demons can be very problematic if you have no or few magical weapons. Justin and I did limit our magic, but perhaps some further look at either a limit on cetain spells or forms of magic might be useful. Or an all bets are off game, but that might result in Elementals and Greater Demons playing dodge the Chaos Vortices

I remembered that Treemen are very powerful, and learnt that low level Dragons are'nt. We also learnt the chariot rules as neither of us had used them much before, as well as reacquainting ourselves with lots of the other parts of the game.

Concerning the Slann Army itself I learnt several useful things.
Firstly, Slann are quite awesome, better than I recalled.  The Toughness 4 was very useful against Strength 3 bows. The army itself, like the Aztecs, is a good close combat army with useful harrasing missile troops. The Slann themselves perform respectably in melee, as are the heroes.

I was suprised how unispiring the Slann levies were, and how panic could wreck an army. There is an element of luck in any dice game, but I think is not unfair to suggest that bad luck played role in my army panicking. The rest of the army performed very well, and my approach of a balance of heroes and magic and having a large number of troops in my army worked well.

Giving the heroes magical weapons, and also adding Magical Standards and Magical Instruments to regiments can really make a difference. As some of the elite Slann units can have these I will be adding them to future armies. I will probably be dropping a lot of non magical insturments as they seemed a waste of points.

Blowpipes are good, if not always reliable. the D6 strength posion can be excellent, even wounding a Treeman, but rolling low can leave a unit with a problem enemy within 12 inches.

Binding a Dragon was a good idea, although the Binding Test can be nerve-racking. A Level 1 Dragon did'nt seem powerful enough to take on Treeman, so maybe a Level 2 or 3 maybe better. I might try taking Cold One Riders next time I use the Slann to give an impact unit, although they are expensive in points and can be very vunerable to missile fire.
Slann Mages.

Choosing two Level 20 Mages and a Level 15 was a good balance. I have already mentioned the very powerful spells, but other good spells are still usuable. Level 2 Lighting Bolts are excellent, and so perhaps a pair of Level 10 Mages rather then the Level 15 might work better. Also, Level 5 and 10's don't have to be mounted in palaquins, which can make them a target.

I made an error with the Talismanic standard. Taking it was an excellent idea, but putting it in the War Altar meaning that the Mages had to cluster around it. This meant that in I ended up having 4 Palaquins clustered together within 12 inches of each other, creating my own traffic jam. The Wood Elves had also benefitted from having Mages/Wizards present in regiments, something I might try as well. 

Overall, it was an really enjoyable weekend and game. It was great to see Justin again and game like it was 1989!  I have been looking at my armies in a different light too with the fresh gaming experence gained, so some redesign might be in order.
It has given the painting and collecting more another dimension, as well as increasing the appreciation of the many old models I have. :)

Gurggl Greenwake, still alive, and looking for a re-match!

Thursday 18 September 2014

"The Battle at the Tower" (or Trouble at Mill) a 5,000 point 3rd Edition Battle Report (Part One).

Last weekend my old school friend (yes, we have known each other that long!) Justin and I fought a 5,000 point 3rd Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle over two days. This was the first 3rd Edition battle we have fought since about 1992, and so we were, to say the least, a little rusty.

We agreed on 5,000 points as we felt it was a good size for us to field a decent army without it taking too long to fight a battle. I chose to use my Slann army, Justin used his Wood Elf army. Both are armies which we used in the 1980's, often against each other, so some of the miniatures had probably fought each other then as now. Niether of us went for army selections which were designed to 'power game' or win by using the rules to gain an unfair advantage, but to give a good balanced army that would work well and reacquaint ourselves with 3rd Edition Warhammer.

 All of the miniatures used were painted, and all of them original 1980's Citadel/Maruader Miniatures, with the exception of my pair of 1980's Grenadier Giant Scorpions. 'Back in the day' 4,000 to 5,000 was the point value we usually settled on for our games, with 3,000 point armies being used for Warhammer battles in a crazy and noisy 1980's Games Workshop! Needless to say, both of us could have easily fielded a lot more points without much of a problem. :)

To save space on this update, my Slann army list can be seen here, although the only additon to my army list was an Animal Handler with light armour and two Giant Scopions: http://goblinlee.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/all-projects-on-hold-for-return-of.html


Justin will be doing his own update on the battle on his excellent blog and with much better photographs than me, which can be found here: http://themasterworkguild.blogspot.co.uk/

I have never written up a battle report before, and so I am not sure how to do it. Rather than do an item by item list of things going on, which I think would be boring to read, I am going to give an overview of what took place in each turn. This is an approach similar to the '24 Hours at Carik Mound' battle report in White Dwarf #107, and the 'Best Laid Plans' in #117.

As I was the Slann player a lot of the notes and photographs I took are more from the Slann army's perspective, but any gaps I am sure will be balanced out by Justin's update. Also I did'nt really take enough relevant photographs, just random ones as the battle progressed. So I think my write up would have benefitted from maps and detailed photographs of deployment. I forgot to give names to the Slann Mages and so for ease I will refer to them by thier flesh colours.

The table was 6 foot by 5 foot and built by Justin, with a collection of both our scenery placed near enough at random all over it.

We did'nt think up an reason for the for the battle other than the Slann wishing to capture and investigate the alien looking tower in the middle of the battlefield, hence the name I have given to the battle. Perhaps it is an Old Slann tower? An entrance to a secret underground series of chamber packed with untold wealth and artifacts? Or maybe a major magical conduit to the Heavens allowing the Slann Mages to channel great magic in thier fight against Chaos in the Ethereal Realms? Who knows, but the Slann wanted it, and those pesky Dry Skin Elves were in the way.
They would have to be moved!

We diced to pick a side, I won (just the first of many very high dice rolls in this battle as we you shall see!) , I picked the right hand side of the table, and then we set up our armies, with myself taking the first turn. 
 Along the battle line.
Over 200 Slann ready for battle!
The army deployed 12 inches in from the table edge, and leaving 12 inches gap at either flank. 

I chose to place the four elite regiments, the Warrior Priests, Eagle Warriors, Jaguar Warriors, and Aligator Warriors all together in the centre of the army, backed up by the War Altar. Either side of this I placed the Bull Slann and Spawn Bands. The Venom Tribes and Jungle Braves were placed to the fore to act as a skirmish screen,  and the Scouts on the flanks to harrass. Gurggl Greenwake, the Army General, ended up on the centre right so he could join which unit seemed might need his help the most. All three Slann Mages were in the centre behind the troops but within 12 inches of the War Altar and the Talismanic standard so as to access the stored Magic Points. The other magic standard, the 'Bane Banner' was in the Warrior Priest unit, and would be used to scare things away without having to get the unit engaged in combat.
Centre and left flank of the Slann army.
Right flank.
My plan was to general advance towards the Wood Elves, engaging in melee as soon as possible and keep the pressure on his battle line. Recalling our battles of old I was concerned about being shot to pieces by a hail of arrows, including lots of 'Hail of Doom' arrows. The main bulk of my army and potiental killing power was in the centre, and so planned on pushing forward and using that as a base for the forces on the flanks to be able to sweep along and engage the lightly armoured/armoured archers in melee. 

My advance would be screened by skimishing Venom Tribes, Jungle Braves, and Scouts, although the Venom Tribes and Scouts were to break off as melee ensued to harrass Elves unengaged in combat. As I outnumbered the Wood Elves, I reasoned I had enough forces to absorb missile fire and to still fight. Being Slann my army (except for the Slann Palaquins and Giant Scorpions) can move across water without any penalty. In addition, when in the water they count as being in Hard Cover get a -2 to hit. So I planned to advance straight through the water, and then try to keep Scouts and Venom Tribes in the water whilst shooting their blowpipes because as skirmishers they also received a futher -1 to hit when being shot at. So  in total a -3 to hit, -4 to hit at long range should tax even an Elf's shooting.

 Right Flank from my view.
Yellow fleshed Scouts on the hill, Spawn Bands next to the hill, Mage, Bull Slann to thier left, with a Venom Tribe to the fore.
 Centre right.
War Altar, Jaguar Warriors, Animal Handler, Dragon, and Eagle Warriors, with blue Fleshed Jungle Braves forming a skirmish screen to the front.
 Centre left.
Mage, Warrior Priests (in black warpaint), Aligator Warriors with Green plumes, green and black skinned Jungle Braves at the fore on the hill, and Spawn Band on the far left of the photograph next to the Aligator Warriors.
 Left flank.
Scouts in the fore of the photograph, Bull Slann with pink and blue plumes, another Mage next to them. The orange Slann at the front of the army are skirmishing Venom Tribe Slann. 

My main areas of concern were the two Treemen, with the two Chariots and the large block of Elven Lord Cavalry coming a close second. I was unsure about the Wardancers, they never seemed very good to me, but I felt there must be something to them. Other than that it was an impending arrow storm which I was worried about.

 The Wood Elves:
Centre of the Army with Skarlocs (Lord's Bowmen unit), Glade Runners, Chariots, Zoats, and Elven Lord's.
 Wood Elven right flank.
 Wood Elven left flank.
Justin will have better photographs of his pansy Elves lovely painted Wood Elven host.

Day One. 

Turn 1.
Slann: 
My first turn was characterised by a general advance, with everything moving at thier maximum pace towards the Wood Elves (a situation that would change, but I'll get to that later on!). The Dragon flew towards the alien looking tower in the centre. Other than moving, and reserve moving, nothing happened. In the Magic Phase the Green Mage cast an Aura of protection giving himself a +4 save, whilst the Yellow Mage placed a Dust Storm in front of the centre of he army to cover the advance. 
Off they go, an Orange skinned unit of Venom Tribe blowpipers advance in the near ground, whilst Bull Slann and Spawn Bands follow, with Jungles Braves to their right.
General advance of  219 Slann a Dragon, and 2 Giant Scorpions.
Dust Storm (Level 3 Elemental Spell). 
We did'nt want to cut the one out of the rule book! 

Wood Elves:
The Wood Elves also participated in advancing, but mainly to position archers onto the hills and to bring the Cavalry and Chariots forward. With the 36 inch range of the Lornalim Longbow my Slann were already in range from the +2 Lord's Bowmen, but a flurry of archery against my Venom Tribes unit on the right flank failed to wound the toughness 4 Slann. The ordinary Elven Archers had better luck against the Dragon, removing 1 wound. Strangely we discovered that big scaly Dragons don't have a natural armour save! 

Turn 2.
Slann: 
The general advance of the Slann army continued, with the Dragon reaching the Old Slann tower, and the Dust Storm moving a litle foward. The Bowpipes were all out of range (range 12 inches), as were the spells of the Slann Mages. The Yellow Mage casts another dust storm to cover the advance of my left flank, placing it between the house and watermill.

Wood Elves: 
The Wood Elves conducted very little movement, only the Chariots advanced with the Elven Lord's following. In the shooting phase the Shore Rider killed a Slann Scout, first blood to the Elves! Further shooting from the Elves resulting in the Lord's Bowmen  killing 3 Jungle Braves in the Centre of the army. The Wood Elf Archers on the hill on on the Wood Elven right flank, and the Glade Runners next to them shot the other Jungle Brave unit (the Green and Black fleshed ones), killing 7, and routing them.
Skarloc used his 'Hail of Doom' magic arrow against the Eagle Warriors, but only killed 2. The toughness 4 of the Slann saving them in the 'to wound' stage!

Elven Magic was ineffective, the Zoat failed to kill anyone with his Fireball spell, and Kaia's attempt to cast cause Panic failed due to the Slann passing their Will Power test.
Still 13 dead Slann in one turn.

Turn 3.
Slann:
The battle seemed to be going well so far for the Slann, with some casualties taken but not as many so far as I had feared. As the Jungle Braves on my left flank were routing the surronding units needed to take Paniic tests. The EaglesWarriors failed, rolling a 12 and routing; the Aligator Warriors next to them then had to roll, and got 11! Another rout. The Orange Mage then rolled and he too rolled 11 and joined the general panic in the centre of my army. To add insult to injury the Animal Handler also panicked and ran leaving the Giant Scorpions behind.
50 Slann in the centre of my army had now turned and ran.
Despite this the rest of the army advanced, with the Scouts and Venom Tribes on my right flank reaching the pond and river.
 My left flank started to reach the hamlet on the right, with the Scouts taking the extreme left flank. There was only a Treeman and 10 Wardancers in front of them. The Venom Tribes there took pot shots at the Wardancer, killing 3 of them. On the other flank the Scouts failed in thier shooting, thier BS 2 letting them down.
The Magic phase still had one Mage still routing, and the other two were out of range for spells. Therefore the Yellow Mage, using magic point from the Talismanic standard War Altar,used the Summon Lesser Demons spell, and 10 Gargoyles of Barda were brought from the Demonic Realm.
10 Flying Gargoyles of Barda. 

Justin was less than inpressed with their arrival as Wood Elves cannot use Demonic magic, whereas Slann have access to all types of magic, and strangely he only took one magic weapon in the entire army. In a spirit of gamesmanship I agreed not to summon anymore.We both knew where I intended to use the Demons.
Apart from the Demons, the Bane Banner failed to Cause Cowardly Flight on one of the Chariots. 
In the Rallying phase the Jungle Braves and Animal Handler still kept routing, but the Eagle Warriors rallied, as did the Aligator Warriors and the Mage.

Wood Elves: 
The Wood Elf Archer regiment on the left flank behind the Dust Storm decided to advance through it. Only Strength 2 hits from the sotrm, Justinfelt it would not affect them, but unluckily 6 of them were wounded and died! When you have toughness 3, Strength 2 is a lot more dangerous than one first thinks.
The Elven Chariots and Lord's moved foward to in line with the Archers battle line. 
The Wardancers on the left flank charged the Scouts and killing 3 out of 4 of them, pushing back the last Scout but deciding to follow up.
On the right flank the other Wardancers charged the orange Venom Tribes who, as skirmishers, fled, but did'nt rout. 
The poor Pond Dragon was shot at again, and lost another 3 wounds to missile fire from ordinary archers and Glade Runners!  Skarloc's Lord's Bowmen shot and killed 3 Jaguar Warriors. 

Magic phase wise in order to counter act the Dust Storm in the centre of the battlefield the Zoat cast Vortex of Chaos to suck up the Dust Storm. We released that Dust Storm was a very desctructive spell and could just block both sides, so agreed that Vortex of Chaos could, if cast on top, suck up the Dust Storm like a vacuum cleaner sucking up dust. We agreed, I would not cast any more Dust Storms, and Justin would not cast anymore Vortex of Chaos spells. Both of us had the spell and thought it might get messy and destroy the game.
As we found out, we were not wrong....
Another improvised template: Votrex of Chaos. 
What could possibly go wrong? 

Apart form that Kaia Stormwitch cast Ward of Arrows on Skarlocs Regiment of which she was a part, and the other Mage cast Cause Hatred on the Jaguar Warriors, but they passed their magical saving throw.

Turn 4.
Slann: 
The whole of the Slann army resumed it's advance, but now a little wary of the Votrex of Chaos in the middle of the board. 
The Slann army at the start of Turn 4. 

Not wanting my poor Pond Dragon to get peppered with arrows I gave up chasing the Treeman and just charged one of the Chariots and the Zoat, the Dragon passing his binding test to do so, but the combat ended in a draw. The Zoat failed his Fear test and routed!
 The Dragon Charges!!!
 On the right flank the Bull Slann crossed the river and charged the Elven Archers who had been damaged by the Dust Storm, killed one of the Elves with no loss to themselves, and then pushed the Archers back from behind their wall.
Bull Slann pushing back the Archers.

On the other side of the watermill on the right flank the Spawn Band charged the Wardancers who used the Distract ability on them. 
Ooooo look, shiney!
The distracted Slann Spawn Band and Wardancers.

On the left flank the scouts failed to shoot the Treeman right in front of them in the Hamlet. The Venom Tribes had more luck, killing 4 Wardancers. 
In the Magic phase, all three of my Mages were out of range to cast any spells! However the Bane Banner was within range of the Glade Runners, who failed thier leadership test and fled in fear. All the better because the Warrior Kindred Spearmen in the Woods also failed in their panic test, and being close to the table edge just ran off the table!
In my Rally phase, the Animal Handler fled off the table, leaving his Giant Scorpions behind, and we agreed that they would probably just wonder off, so I removed them from play. The blue colour Jungle Braves did'nt rally either, and fled back to their jungles and swamps never to be seen again.

Wood Elves:
 The other Chariot not fighting the Dragon charged through the Jungle Brave skirmishers, causing them to flee (but not rout), and onto the Aligator Warriors, smashing into them killing 4 of them and pushing them back. 
The Elven Attack Chariot attacks! 

The other Chariot fair less well, losing a Warhorse and being pushed back.
On my left flank the Treeman charged the Scouts and killed 4 of them with ease.
This did'nt end well for the Slann. 

 The Bull Slann on the right flank fighting the Archers across the wall by the mill killed one more Elf, and lost a Slann, pushing the Elves back again.
On the other side of the mill, the Wardancers continued to distract the Spawn band.
The shooting phase was moderately successful for the Elves. The Shore Riders killed the last Slann Scout on the right flank. The Archer regiment on top of the central hill killed two Jaguar Warriors, whilst Skarlocs killed 2 Venom Tribes.
This just left the magic phase. The Vortex of Chaos was randomly moved and moved straight across the melee of the Aligator Warriors and the Chariot, destroying the Chariot and killing 8 Slann including a Level 20 Hero!
Hmmm, Chaos takes its toll. 

Apart from that the Elves magic was either out of range, routing, or failed to work in the case if Kaia casting Cause Panic against the Venom Tribe who passed thier magical saving throw.
However, the Zoat and the Glade Runners did rally at the end of the turn.

Turn 5. 
Slann:
In the Centre the remains of the Aligator Warriors reformed and advanced away from the Vortex and toward the Elves.
  Behind them I was left with the problem that the Vortex had stopped my advance and was threatening to kill my Mages. So, I had to make the unenviable choice of moving them back towards my table edge and away from the Vortex, and also at the same time away from the Elves and further out of range to use thier spells.
Advancing, except for the Mages.
In the centre the Venom Tribe shields the Jaguar Warriors. Further back the Eagle Warriors regain thier lost ground. 

In the rest of the movement phase Gurggl Greenwake joined the Bull Slann fighting the Archers. His intervention helped the Bull Slann kill 3 Elves, rout the unit, and kill another 2 Elves with Free Hacks, but they do not pursue. 
The other side of the mill, the Wardancers are still distracting the Spawn Band, but this was the last turn they can do this.
 In the centre of the battlefield the Pond Dragon kills another Warhorse and pushes the Chariot back once again. The unit of Venom Tribe advances to close range (6 inches) of Skaloc's regiment and kills 1 of them with a Blowpipe shot. 
On my left flank all of the regiments advance towards the Hamlet, and the Venom Tribes shoot at the Wardancers killing 1 of them, whilst in close combat the Treeman kills the last Slann Scout. The Gargoyles of Barda are heading towards the second of the Treemen. The advance was going well on this sideflank of the battlefield.
Things looking good for the Slann on the left flank.
 Closing in on the Wardancers, but there are 2 Treemen lurking about...
...as are the Elven Lord's cavalry.
In the Magic turn, the Green Mage is too far away to cast against the Elves, so cast Strength of Combat, increasing his Toughness by 1 to 6. The Yellow Mage disapated the last remaining Dust Storm so the Bull Slann and Gurggl can advance in my next turn. The Orange Mage decided to give Lighting Bolts a try, casting three times, 1D3 for each magic level, and directed them at the Archer unit on the hill killing 4 of them!
In a few short turns the Slann might be able to storm through the Hamlet and roll up the Elven flank....

Wood Elves:
 ...or maybe not.
The second Treeman makes it's move. 

  The Wardancers charge the Spawn Band regiment, as does the other Treeman who was hiding behind the house. I rolled 12 and the Spawn Band failed it's fear test and then routed...

... the Bull Slann behind them then had to take a panic test, I rolled 10 and they too failed...

...the Warrior Priests also had to test for panic, I rolled 11, and they too fled...

...near the Bull Slann the Venom Tribe tested, and again I rolled 10 causing them to flee...

...the Aligator Warriors near the Priests had to test, rolled another 11, and they fled...

... causing the Jungle Braves (with Leadership 6) to test, and I rolled 10... and they fled.

Only the Mage passed (and only just, I rolled a 10!).
Within one turn my entire left flank and part of the centre of the army had fled. Some 81 Slann just turned around and ran away. Not good for an army with a basic leadership of 8.
The collapse of the half of the Slann army.
Jungle Braves running away!! 

The Elves shooting phase reaped only the death of a Venom Tribe Slann in the centre of the battlefield. 
In close combat, the Wardancers on my extreme right flank finally had to stop distracting the Slann. In doing so they switched to the Whirling Death dance, killing 3 Slann, but still losing the combat due to my rank bonuses and standard, and being pushed back away from the river and over the wall.
The Slann were at least advancing somewhere. 

In the Elven magic phase, the Zoat cast several Lighting Bolts against the Gargoyles, killing one of them. Kaia Stormwitch cast Cause Frenzy on her own regiment, Skarlocs Lord's Bowmen. After determining that a Slann Palaquin was indeed classed as a 'riding animal', the other Elven Mage cast Stampede on the Green Mage, but the Magical saving throw was passed. 

And that ended Turn 5, and day one of the battle.......