I posted this a little while back on Druchii.net, but I thought I'd repost it here for this group. This is a report of a battle I fought between my Dark Elves and the Skaven. This is in story format, so I apologize ahead of time to those of you that don't like hearing a battle report this way.
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When dawn broke, the two forces stood arrayed across the plain from one another. It was a cold, dreary, gray dawn, but it came swiftly, and as the light quickly grew, it became alarmingly apparent to Lingus the Cunning sitting astride his great black dragon that the Skaven horde was already much closer than he would have desired.
The Skaven general did not hesitate. He quickly sounded the order that spurred his troops forward. The hulking forms of the great company of rat ogres nearly blocked his view of the Dark Elves across the plain. Surrounded by Storm Vermin, standing upon the palanquin bearing the great bell of doom, he watched as his forces hurried across the open ground to close with the enemy.
Lingus, too, reacted quickly. He gave the order for the Dark Riders to advance upon the enemy's right flank, while the Cold One Knights advanced in the center to support the maneuver. He signaled the advance of his Crossbowmen upon the enemy's right flank, knowing they were hopelessly outnumbered, but knowing also that he needed to sacrifice them to buy time in the center. With a nod to his lieutenant, Black Peg, the great war ballistae emptied their magazines into the advancing Rat Ogres, causing a serious bruise on the thigh of one of the beasts. The main body of his infantry, Corsairs led by Sergeant IconHack, Grey Slayers led by Captain Kopec - the Fleet of Foot, and the crazed, drugged Witch Elves led by the Venerable Hag, Sister Marie DeLordes advanced upon his right center as well.
Lightning blazed across the field as the deadly WarpFire Cannon scorch a swath through the Grey Slayers and singed the very hair of the Dark Elf sorceress, Fora-Fee. The monstrous Rat Ogres slammed into the Corsairs, and the Dark Riders danced like Sonny Corleone at the tollbooth as a Ratling Gun found them in its sites.
Just then, the skies opened up and a deluge of unnatural, driving rain, thicker than a swarm of locusts came forth from the heavens. Cursing his fortunes, Lingus spurred his own mount to threaten the enemy's right flank, though the driving torrent prevented him from taking to the air. The Cold One Knights and the Cold One Chariot slammed into the Rat Ogres, as did Sister Marie DeLordes and her Witch Elves over the bodies of a dozen slain Corsairs. The Dark Elf War Machines struggled to find their targets through the downpour, and the Lieutenant upon the Dark Elf right flank, Black Peg, scrambled to spur her Pegasus upon the ground to support the greatly outnumbered Grey Slayers who had engaged a horde of Clan Rats. Fora-Fee yawned, picked her nose, and then promptly went up in a puff of smoke as the Warpfire Cannon found its mark.
Six Cold One Knights, a Cold One Chariot, and ten crazed Witch Elves proved too great a challenge for the great Rat Ogres. Half their number slain, the rest turned to flee only to have the Cold Ones run them down before the very feet of the Skaven Seer. The Skaven General watched as the Cold Ones, Knights and Chariot charged into the Storm Vermin that composed his retinue. He smiled slyly – he had a trick or two to deal with these heavily armored foes. Upon his left, he saw the remaining Dark Elf Witches charge into a unit of Globadiers, cutting them down as they turned to flee.
The Skaven general surveyed the battlefield; upon his right flank he had problems. The Dark Elf general had already butchered a unit of Gutterrunners, and he had an entire horde of Clan Rats tied up in melee, the Ratling Gunners working frantically to clear a jammed weapon. In front of him he had some unusually heavily armored Dark Elves astride their Cold One steeds and a Chariot hacking away at his elite Storm Vermin. But his left flank was overrunning the foe. A unit of Clan Rats had just broken the Dark Elf Grey Slayers and Captain Kopec - the Fleet of Foot, was beating a hasty retreat. His Clan Rats now looked poised to run down one of the enemy’s Bolt Throwers, and his Rat Horde was circling to deal with a pitifully small unit of Dark Elf Crossbowmen on the edge of his sight. So he let ring his great Doom Bell. The deep boom rolled across the fields and all upon the plain paused for a moment in the din that it created. The Dark Elves wavered, each and every one of them, and nearly faltered to the elf. But in the end, only Black Peg decided that perhaps discretion was the better part of valor, and she quickly sent the signal to Lingus that she would be happy to go check on the ships and make sure that all was safe there. Many tales there are of the ensuing footrace between her and Captain Kopec.
The Skaven General then turned his attention full upon the Cold One Knights at his feet. Chanting and gesturing, he sent upon these mighty knights a plague of infectious boils that quickly slew two of them. But such are the fickle whims of the Horned Rat, for the plague immediately spread through the ranks of his Storm Vermin, slaying nearly a dozen of his own bodyguard! And as if that were not enough, there was a great boom from over the General’s left shoulder: there, where only moments before had stood the WarpFire Cannon, now a great cloud of green vapor rose amid a pile of twisted wreckage. Nothing ever was found of the crew, except one earring and a few teeth. And now, the driving rains that he had summoned earlier created more problems for him than protection, for his Ratling Gun crews were hard pressed to find their marks amidst the tempest.
Twice the Skaven Lord sent hordes of mice to overwhelm the Cold One Knights, their Chariot and the remaining Bolt Thrower, while breathing noxious vapors into the Knights for good measure. In the end the Chariot and Bolt Thrower succumbed to the vermin, but not until the Storm Vermin broke ranks and surrounded the last Knight did the Skaven prevail in that melee. In the meantime, the Dark Elf Witches had been nearly wiped out by the Ratling Gun upon the Skaven left flank. All that is, except for a blood-splattered, pissed off Sister Marie DeLordes. With truly heroic fury, she rushed the Ratling Gun and butchered her crew. Turning, she then made for the last unit of Globadiers. But the Globadiers, seeing the crazed glee in her eyes turned and fled. For even in the deep warrens of the Skaven, it is well known that Hell hath no fury like the grim hand of Sister Marie DeLordes.
Lingus the Cunning watched as his mount disposed of the last of a horde of Clan Rats. Turning towards the rest of the fray, his heart sank. There were still several units of Skaven, but for all of his straining to see through the storm, he could not see any of his soldiers left upon the field. He turned his mount to head back towards the sea, beginning in his mind to carefully phrase the battle report that he would send back to Malekith…
Well written. I hope you post more in the future, and I also hope we gett hat dedicated section for these types of articles. Again, Well done.
Sweet report and the elves lost to boot :D
Do you have any tips to pass on abou wrting battle reports as stories?
