The surface of a muddy pool stirred. A bony hand emerged, followed by a rotting skull. More bloated corpses pierced the surface, crawling to the shore. Weeping willows bent, their branches sprouted claws. In a flurry of blows, the dismembered remnants sank back in the mud.
The undead were coming...
Set-up.
Princess Anne clutched the reigns of her Dragon impatiently.
The reinforcements promised by Lord Varden didn't arrive. No Eternal Guards and no Treekins, meant that the mercenary Elf - Assarnil had to do.
She mustered what she could; a Wych Elm Spell Weaver, a regenerating Battle Standard Bearer, two Spell Singers with scrolls. Four packs of Dryads, 20 Glade guards, two small groups of War Dancers, two groups of War Hawks, two squadrons of Wild Riders. A Great Eagle and two Treemen... Less than a hundred Wood Elves had to face an Unknown Undead menace... All she knew, was that the Tomb Kings of Warsaw have allied themselves to the Treacherous Undead Jedy Knight, Blood Dragon Count.
On the other side of the plain, the Undead emerged slowly. Jedy Knight, brandishing his Sword of Might, urged his 15 Black Knights forward. A lumbering Giant, 3 Necromancers (Book, Periapt, Power Familiar), 24 Dire Wolves, 12 Zombies, 10 Fell Bats. His ally, flying King Tomash (4+ ward, Armour of the Ages), brought three Liche Priests, 3 chariots, two bases of swarm, a scorpion, 20 Warriors FCG, shields. 15 Archers, 15 Tomb Guards FCG with Icon of Rakaph, 3 Ushabti, two catapults.
Both armies formed their ranks. Each had 5 dispel scrolls, but of course the Undead magic phase had to be more dangerous. (10-11 PD for the VC alone)
1.1
The Undead advanced rather briskly.
In the TK magic phase one catapult misfired and swallowed one of the crew, the other was stopped.
Jedy Knight miscast the first Gaze (VC had 3 gazes, but no Dances), ending the magic phase.
The TK catapult killed a Dryad.
1.2
Realising that an enemy killing one Dryad per round was not very dangerous, the WE came out of their hiding places.
The Wild Riders started their long trek, the Dragons and Treemen still lurking.
Princess Anne let go the Hail of Doom arrow, duly inflicting four wounds on the Giant.
The Archers killed four Bats.
2.1
The scorpion lost it's way in the tunnels and died.
All the bats charged the archers, survived the stand and shoot, and tied up the archers long enough for the scattering Tomb Swarm to arrive a few rounds later.
The Chariots charged the Eagle, which fled cunningly only a few inches. The two chariots that ended in the wood got destroyed.
The catapults killed another couple of Dryads, but the necromancers furiously reduced one unit of Dryads to three, and annihilated another.
The Hawks and Assarnil passed their panic tests.
2.2
The Hawks charged the Dire Wolves, fluffed their attacks and decided to run, instead of hit and run. The Wolves charged the Dryads.
The Wild Riders on the flank got ready for their deadly run. Assarnil hiding behind a wood closer to the enemy.
Princess Anne landed cunningly behind the obelisk, close to the flank of Black Knights. An Irresistible Call of the Hunt, sent her into action.
The Dryads made short work of the Wolves, but Princess and her Dragon, true to their form, killed one Black Knight. She was still cursing Jedy's Book, when The Crystal saved her from the killing blow she was served in return.
3.1
Jedy moved to the side and challenged the Princess, but decided not to hurt her. (The Crystal held.)
King Tomash joined the Ushabti, and the fun started.
A furious TK magic phase sent the Ushabti into the Wild Riders, the Princess wisely deciding to hold on to her last two scrolls.
A moderate unit of Zombies appeared.
The King's unit overrun into the Wild Riders with the War Banner.
3.2
War Dancers, BSB and Treemen, jumped out of the central wood.
Assarnil landed in position.
The Hunt was dispelled.
Both Treemen strangle roots didn't inflict a single wound on the Giant.
The Wild Riders not only held, but won the combat by four, crumbling the Ushabti to the last remaining.
The Crystal broke, but Princess Anne didn't fall from the saddle, and bravely stayed in combat.
4.1
The Giant ran down some Dryads.
Both tree were hit and wounded by the Flaming Attacks of the catapults - both stayed on their last two wounds.
The last WR with the War Banner held.
Princess Ann finally fell from the saddle, and her beast run.
Trying to pursue would just expose the flank to the Treemen, so Jedy held his horses (just), and returned to the front rank.
4.2
And they're off!
Two Treemen from the front, Assarnil from the side, challenged by Jedy who fluffs his attacks, visibly shaken by the fact that his Gem of Blood immediately doubled the wound from Assarnil. Luckily his armour saved the Dragon's attacks. The Knights loose horribly, their armours are made of butter.
The Hawks try to rescue the Wild Rider with the War Banner, loose horribly, when their champion fluffs and gets killed while the King finishes off the last WR. The Hawks escape for now, since a h&R would see them off the board.
5.1
Counter-charges galore.
The Guard and the King (separately) charge the WD, who hold.
Skeleton Warriors Attack the Tree.
The Wolves chase the Hawks away.
Furious shooting and magic leaves the BSB on his last wound (4 successful regenerations out of five wounds), his WD retinue disappear.
5.2
And they're off again!!
Two Dryads and BSB crash into the BK.
Jedy finally kills Assarnil, the beast stays and kills some Black Knights.
The regiment crumbles precisely to the last wound and Jedy Knight crumbles into dust, The Wolves on the table start to crumble - they will disappear next round.
6.1
The final round.
The Giant charges Assarnil's Dragon, which wisely decides to flee, never to rally.
Raised Zombies are propelled through Book of Arkhan into some Mages, who flee hand in hand eleven inches.
The King helps the skellies break the Tree ( no re-roll - The BSB failed one of 5 regeneration saves) which crashes into the Obelisk. The other tree is thereby immobilised, thank god.
6.2
The Wood Elves defenders can not do much in return.
The big unit of Dryads takes out a catapult.
The Mages rally.
Desperate breathing from the Dragon, fails to inflict any wounds on the necromancers or the Lich Priest.
Irrelevant combat.
The Undead have won a Marginal Victory. But with Jedy Knight reduced to a pile of dust, the Vampires retreated to resurrect him, and King Tomash was not prepared to enter the woods alone. Princess Anne was taken off the field, shaken, but OK. apart from her aching behind. She will be ready to fall off her horse (sorry - Dragon) once again, as she's used to, with this configuration of magic items.
End of story.
Waiting for the photos to refresh my memory - as I didn't take any notes.
The inability to make a cup of coffee or tea, order a pizza and talk about how I cheated Tomash two years ago, all at the same time - made for an inferior game on my part.
At least Tomash cleared the path through the snow, to park the car, while me and Brother Tom were cheering him on.
I will kill anyone who comments about my army selection.
All of Varden's WE figures at my disposal were fielded - which with Assarnil, and some champions made for an army of exactly 4000 points.
I warned Tomash about the Treemen and Dragons, so he brought two catapults. Hasane Edriander has competently replaced Varden as Brother's Tom's WE co-general.
The minimal size of the Undead's victory (858 points) is of course due entirely to the horrible mistakes of my so called "co-general" - Tomash.
I was too busy trying to make a cup of coffee (which I failed to make anyway) to control his antics.
Seriously though - thank you all for coming to the village of Golkow, I hope you all had as good a time as I had.
I'll make a snow-cowered table for the next encounter.
Photos and comments from outraged co-generals - highly welcome.
(small remark by Tomash)
PS. "Man" of The Match: Jedy' Dice Cup - trying to "Gaze" down Dryads 9 (nine) 4+ wounds out of 9 hits
Brat Tomasz już dostał namiary do wrzucenia zdjęć, więc wkrótce battle report dorobi się dokumentacji fotograficznej.
Właściwie to prawdziwa jest chyba tylko liczba różnicy małych 
