2nd Battle of the Storm of Chaos Campaign Tree between an Bretonnian Errantry Army and a Chaos (Khorne) Army.
Hold the Line!
This battle was fought between the blood-red, writhing masses of Chaos and the shining might of noble Bretonnia as the Second Battle of the Storm of Chaos Campaign. The First Battle of the Storm of Chaos ended in a complete and utter massacre of the invading Chaos horde, and now it was time to see if the Bretonnians could manage to hold the line and defend Bretonnia from invasion.
For complete rules for this scenario / battle please see the Storm of Chaos Tree.
The Opposing Forces We mutually agreed to designate the Chaos army as the Attackers and the Bretonnians as the Defenders.
Chaos - Attackers
*Chaos Lord on a Juggernaut of Khorne (CLJ) with the Chaos Rune Shield, Sord of Might, and Gaze of the Gods Armour
*Chosen Knights of Khorne (CKK)unit of 10
*Knight's of Khorne (KK-A) unit of 5
*Knight's of Khorne (KK-B ) unit of 5
*Warhounds unit (WH-A) of 5
*Warhounds unit (WH-B ) of 5
*Flesh-hounds (FH) of 5
*Mengil's Manflayers (MM) of 10
Total Models in Army: 46
TOTAL POINTS: 1992
Bretonnia - Defenders
*Bretonnian Lord on Warhorse, Heavy Armour, Shield and Questing Vow, Sword of the Quest, Gomril Great Helm, and the Tress of Isoulde
*Paladin Battle Standard Bearer on a Warhorse, Heavy Armour, Biting Blade, Questing Vow
*Damsel of the Lady on a Warhorse, Level 2, Chalice of Malfleur, Dispel Scroll
*Knights Errant ( KE-A) x 5 + Grail Knight Champion, Full Command, Errantry Banner
*Knights Errant (KE-B ) x 5 + Grail Knight Champion, Full Command, Errantry Banner
*Knights Errant (KE-C) x 5 + Grail Knight Champion, Full Command, Errantry Banner
*Knights of the Realm (KoR-A) x 9, Full Command
*Knights of the Realm (KoR-B ) x 5, Full Command
*Pegasus Knights (PK) x 6 with Full Command
*Questing Knights (QK) x 7 with Full Command
Total Models in Army: 48
Casting Pool: 4
Dispel Pool: 3
TOTAL POINTS: 1989
We proceeded as per the rules for this Campaign Battle on a 6' x 4' table, the terrain having already been placed by others in our Guild for us.
The table featured, from the Bretonnian perspective, a stone wall just inside of the top left of the table, a large pond in the centre, a stone wall just south and to the left of the pond, and a 6" x 6" patch of forest to the south and right of the pond.
Victory Objective Markers:
One placed each at bottom left corner of table, bottom centre, bottom right corner, and in the centre of the forest, as per the rules. Foir the markers we used a chest of gold, an enchanted shield, a magic banner, and a golden chalice.
Deployment - Chaos
The displacement of troops was not atypical of a Chaos - on their right were placed the two units of Knights of Khorne, with KK-A to the immediate front of KK-B. To their left was a small rock wall and then the Warhounds in a line, WH-A and then WH-B to their left in line abreast. Centred behind them was the Chaos Lord on his Juggernaut (CLJ). To the left of the Lord was the unit of Flesh Hounds (FH), and on the outside left was the unit of Chosen Knights of Khorne (CKK).
Mengil's Manflayers (MM) were placed lastl, after the Bretonnians, against a small stone wall near the table edge on the immediate Bretonnian left / well ahead of the Chaos units of Knights.
(The pond, so soon to play a key role in the outcome, which separated Mengil from the rest of his comrades, was almost directly in the centre, but perhaps a bit more towards the Chaos line).
Deployment - Bretonnians
The object of the battle was to prevent the Chaos forces from making any contact whatsoever with any and all of the 4 Objective Markers, so I initially decided upon a strategy that would take the battle to the enemy as soon as possible in an attempt to hold his advance for as many of the 6 rounds as possible. I planned on doing this by using my "Mistress of the Marsh" spell to slow units down and the "Father of Thorn" as a secondary to inflict any "free" damage on his units if possible.
However, once it came time for me to deploy in light of the terrain features and where they were located, my plan changed somewhat. With the brick wall reaching in on my left from the table edge in to the right / centre, the forest on the far right almost on the right table edge, and the pond in the middle, I noticed that there were only 2 channels for the enemy's troops to advance if they wished to approach any of the Markers. I opted, therefore, to sit back for a few turns (I figured that by Turn 3 there would be bloodshed) and let him advance while I fine-tuned my deployment of my units to meet their opponents. I felt the advantage was mine in terms of time (my favourite weapon in the game) as I knew that even Errant Knights could likely slow up Chaos Knights for at least 1 or 2 rounds of combat. So, my plan changed: sit back and line up my units of Knights to charge into the enemy as soon as he was clogged up in the channels and hammer him with multiple attacks by multiple units on his foremost units - his other units could not hope to help until a resolution of the initial combats gave them some room to get into it.
Meanwhile, I hope to use my Pegasus Knights to float around and pounce on either of the dog-units and possibly even tie up the Chaos Lord if need be. With 6 Pegasus Knights I hoped that I could get it a lot of attacks (7 Knightly attacks plus 6 from the Pegasi = 13 attacks!) and if I needed to flee, I would likely be able to do so easily.
I opted then to place 2 units of Knights Errant (KE-A & KE-B ) ready to meet anythiing that came down the channel on the left by the stone wall. KE-A was positioned roughly parallel to the wall (and barely over 10" from Mengil's Elves)in order to flank or rear charge whatever came through, while KE-B was placed to meet any threat head-on. Behind them and well back was the Damsel on her horse in the corner, keeping watch on the Marker there and ready to use her spells well out of harm's way. In the centre were both Knights of the Realm units were placed to face channel threats also - KoR- B below and to the left of the pond, and KoR-A below and to the right of the pond. I was not sure at that time exactly where the Chosen Knights of Khorne were going to go so that's why KoR-A was more in the centre / right. Behind these units and between the forest were the Pegasus Knights, ready to launch into the centre by the pond on any target deemed worthy. On the far right were the last Knights Errant unit (KE-C) and the Questing Knights with the Lord and Paladin Battle Standard Bearer. I hoped that by not matching up my Lord unit with the Chaos Lord I might be able to last longer and do more damage and deal with him later, and I hoped that 7 Questing Knights plus a Paladin and a Lord might be able to at least stall the Chosen Knights - their reputation definitely preceded them! The Pegasus Knights were also close enough to offer assistance if needed. Death at all costs - as long as the enemy did not touch any of the Markers in 6 Rounds, I would be able to claim victory, even if the Damsel was the only unit left!
The Battle
Round 1
Bretonnians
Defenders are to go first in this Battle, and being the Defender, off we went...to pray! Not sure of how to resolve this issue when the scenario dictates that I had to go first, so we agreed the fair thing to do would be for me to kneel and pray for the Lady's Blessing and allow the enemy to advance, and respond in Round 2.
Chaos
Mengil's unit was the first to move but soon found himself march-blocked by KE-A on the opposite side of the wall. The Knights (CK-A and B ) advanced towards Mengil's rear along the table's edge. WH-A and WH-B both wheeled to their right and moved towards the ponds edge and Mengil, with the Chaos Lord following suit just behind them. On the Chaos left the FH unit moved basically straight ahead full to the pond's edge and to their left the Chosen Knight's moved their full movement, appearing to intend to try to wedge in beside the forest / Questing Knights and the table edge.
Round 2
Bretonnians
Finishing their prayers, the Knights mounted up and readied for a battle of much importance. Only the Pegasus Knights received the command to move, though, and they advanced towards the base of the pond on the Bretonnian side, definitely within range to charge almost every Chaos unit on the table next turn, but eyeing the FH's to their right especially. I was worried that the Chaos Lord might swing over and try to link up an attack alongside or in support of the Chosen Knights, but luckily (I thought) he was obviously going to pile in behind the Warhounds and Mengil's Elves. (The Damsel tried to cast Mistress of the Marsh on the Chaos Lord in order to slow his advance and allow the KE units to deal with the other enemy units first, but the spells fizzled and came to naught).
Chaos
On their left the Chosen Knights declared a charge on the Bretonnian Lord and the Questing Knights but failed bya mere 1.5"! (This excited me greatly at this time, as I realized that I would be able to drive my charge home in my next turn and gain the advantage of the charge on a most-feared unit!) Meanwhile, the Chaos Lord followed up his advance to between the WH - B unit on his right (which was only slightly behind WH-A) and the pond on his left. On the Chaos right, both KK units advanced along the table edge slightly bejind and to the right of WH- B.
Round 3
Bretonnians
On the far right, EK-C and the Bretonnian Lord's unit of Questing Knights both charged directly into the front of the Chosen Knights unit and killed 8 out of the 10 Chaos Knights! The enemy unit (only 2 models) fled right off the table edge, which was only a few inches away. The Lord's unit pursued them to the edge and halted to catch their breath and thank the Lady. In the centre, the Pegasus Knights charged the FleshHounds and killed all 5 of them!
(In this Round of the Battle, the Chaos General had already lost over 25% of his army!)
Chaos
The Lord moved with the WH- B on his left, with MM slightly behind him, and KK-A and KK- B behind them. In this channel the Chaos front was led by the Warhounds, so WH-A charged KoR-A and managed to kill a Knight! On the Knight's reciprocal attack they killed 2 dogs, while the remaining 3 fled. Interestingly, KoR-A's pursuit move not only caught and destroyed the fleeng Hounds, but it also brought them further...right into the Chaos Lord's right flank!
Round 4
Bretonnians
Luckily, the Lady saw fit to bless the Bretonnian host again, this time allowing the Damsel to cast Mistress of the Marsh with Irrestible Force upon the KK-A unit. This effectively slowed down both KK units, as KK-B was following so closely behind KK-A that it had no room to manoeuvre anyway! On the left, the EK-B unit charged the front of the Chaos Lord, while KoR-B charged into the now-exposed WH-B. Seeing an opportunity to add further confusion and emboldened by the success on the right flank, EK-A charged into Mengil's unit. In the centre, the PK's flew across the pond and landed within charge range of the KK units, while KoR-A charged into WH-B. On the Bretonnian right, the Lord wheeled his unit 90 degrees and advanced towards the table centre behind EK-C, which had performed the same manoeuvre. Though the Chaos forces had been diminished significantly, the Chaos and the 2 units of Knights of Khorne still remained a serious threat to a clean Bretonnian victory.
(At this point in the game, all of the Chaos army and 75% of the Bretonnian army were crammed into a 10" x 10" area between the pond and the small stone wall!)
In the Close Combat phase against the Chaos Lord, the Knights were able to cause only 1 wound on the Juggernaut! (The Lord's Ward Save dismissed 2 other hits). Unbelievable! All 14 Knightly attacks (at strengths 5 & 6) plus the 12 Warhorse attacks were virtually meaningless! What?! However, able to slay only 2 Knights, the Chaos Lord lost combat and fled but was not caught...
Close Combat against Mengil's unit went much the same way, with 4 of the mercenary Dark Elves falling on the charge. The Lady's Blessing saved a few wounds for the young Bretonnian Knights who, having won combat resolution, pursued Mengil and caught him. Oddly enough, the line of pursuit took EK-A straight into the rear of the fleeing Chaos Lord who, after testing again, fled right off the table!
The other close combat between KoR-A and WH-B resulted in all of the Hounds being slain and KoR-A over-running right into the front of KK-A.
Chaos
Nothing to move, but all units who needed to pass Leadership / Panic tests passed.
Round 5
Bretonnians
Things were looking very encouraging for the Bretonnians now - the enemy was leaderless and basically surrounded by an enemy army fighting at 90% (or more, actually) of it's original strength! As long as luck went 50/50, I theorized that I would claim a rather nice victory in a matter of miniutes...
The over-run charge on KK-A resulted in the deaths of 2 more Chaos models, but the remaining 3 managed to inflict 3 wounds back on their attackers. Thankfully, the Bretonnian's fine armour and the Lady's Ward Save allowed for the death of only 1 Bretonnian Knight. As a result of combat resolution, the Chaos Knights fled through KK-B, while the pursuing KoR-A over-ran into KK-B.
Chaos
Seeing a disastrous defeat dawning before him, the Chaos general managed to rally the fleeing KK-A unit, but that was it for his turn.
In close combat, KoR-A destroyed 1 KK-B model, while 2 KoR-A's were slain in the reciprocal attack. The Bretonnians lost combat resolution and had to test, requiring a "7" or less to pass...and they got it! Thanks be to the Lady!
Round 6
Bretonnians
Victory, at this point, was certain for the Bretonnians. The over-run charge by KoR-A into KK-B was joined by EK-B, but all of their attacks proved fruitless against the Chaos armour of the 4 Chaos Knights! The PK's charged into the flank of KK-B and killed 3 of them, leaving only 1 Chaos Knight of Khorne alive! Not what I had expected at all. As a result, the KK-B Knight fled 11" and the PK unit, having the highest unit strength, pursued KK-B but ran into the freshly-ralled KK-A unit and killed them.
At this point, only 1 Chaos model was left alive on the table, and that was the sole surviving Knight of Khorne from KK-B who was fleeing.
Chaos
Unable to rally, the last of KK-B, and the only model in the Chaos army to "survive", continued to flee but did not reach the table edge.
Summary Basically, a complete and overwhelming Bretonnian victory. None of the Chaos units even came within 12" of any of the Markers, and only 1 Chaos model survived to the end of the battle! however, it is not a bad idea to permit an enemy model to survive - he will make an excellent messenger!
Victory Points
The Chaos invaders killed 3 Knights of the Realm and 2 Knights Errant, which equals roughly 100 points.
The Bretonnians killed all but 1 of the 46 Chaos models so, in addition to bonuses for captured enemy standards, the victors can easily claim about 1850 Victory Points.
None of the Objective Markers were taken by the enemy.
Next Battle: Ambush! |
Tactics 
