2022-10-14, Warlords of Erehwon Campaign - Battle of the Watch Tower

After the narrow defeat in the Battle of Desolation Pass where the cream of the Elven society in the Northern Province was all but annihilated, the young heir to the fiefdom rallied whatever troops were available, including the Rangers guarding the ruins of the ancient Watch Tower beneath Desolation Pass.

He also sent envoys to the Royal Court, the Jarls of the human settlements on the Western Coast, and to the Dwarven Kingdom of Karakhând in the mountains some leagues east of the Desolation Pass, bringing gifts and pleas for assistance.

The Elven force advanced on the double to meet the shambling hordes under control of one of the Necromancer's vile Captains, the Wraith known to the living only as The Defiler, at the now abandoned Ranger camp close to the old Watch Tower.

Here you can see the two warbands deployed:

Emil took on the role as the young and fairly inexperienced Lord, which was only fitting, as he had not played WoE ever before.

Of course, his inexperience also made him not be fully aware of the importance of using the terrain to cover his units from the Undead Stone thrower ... 😟

Turn 1 was more or less a general advance by the Undead Horde, some Zombies soaking up a hail of arrows, and the stone thrower landing a hit on the Elven Guard.

The Defiler raised the skeletons of five lomg forgotten warriors to bolster a five-skeleton Warrior unit.

Turn 2 saw another direct hit on the Elven Guard, and the Elves kept pouring arrows into the ranks of the Dead.

The Elves manuevered a lot, but still managed to get a lot of bows to bear.

The Stone Thrower Template was just forgotten om the table.

On Turn 3, the Skeleton Riders charged the Elven Rangers - and were beaten back!

The Zombie mob in the center finally fell apart under the constant hail of arrows.

On the Elves far right, the Elven Warriors clashed, first with a mob of Zombies (whom they destroyed), then with a unit of Skeleton Warriors (and were annihilated themselves).

The Skeleton Warriors closest to the camera failed to respond to an order to charge the Rangers, and went Down. They never recovered from this for the rest of the battle.

The Stone Thrower missed its target this time, but The Defiler killed some Elves with Chill Wind.

On Turn 4, once more, the Stone Thrower missed the Elven Archers.

The Skeleton Riders charged the Lord's Retinue - and were beaten back again!

The Elves were obviously giving up their right flank and trying to consolidate on their left.

As far as I remember, The Defiler  killed another Elven Guard with Chill Wind.

Turn 5 saw some heroic antics by the young and unexperience Lord, but he ended up skewered on the spears of the Dead.

At the end of Turn 5, the Undead Host had three Down units, but the Elven Warband was Broken, and the die decided that the game was over.

The Sun was really challenging my trusted Canon at this point.

Another Victory for the vanguard of the Necromancer. Will the Free Peoples of the north respond to the call to arms by the now fallen Lord, or will the Royal Court send reinforcements in time?

Stay tuned for the next chapter of this ever-growing saga!

Warlords of Erehwon Solo Game - Turn 5

 Of course, the routing Knights should have been moved before anything else, but I forgot that rule. Instead, I moved tham off the table as soon as I became aware of the error.

But, as you can see, the Guard fired at a Skeleton unit and took out the Leader.

Then, the Elven Hero charged the Undead Champion. The combattants failed to penetrate each other's armour, so both had to take a Break Test (and the Elf automatically passed, due to Haughty Disdain).

Both warriors wanted to push on, so a follow-up combat was fought. Again, no blood (ichor?) was drawn, both passed their Break Test, and the Champion had to Consolidate first.

Then a fresh (?) unit of Skeleton Warriors attacked the hero while hurling their spears at him. The Elf could not ward off all the projectiles, and thus suffered a Wound.

Shaken by the pain, the noble Elf succumbed to the insurmountable odds. Things were looking bleak for the dauntless defenderes of the pass.

To add insult to injury, the Undead horde made the final breakthrough by killing the Elven Lord with their spears while closing in.

The remaining Bodyguard broke and fled the battlefield. By this point, the Elven warband was well broken, and the Elves' only hope now was to kill off as many Undeads as possible.

A decimated unit managed to Rally.

Then, the remaining Elven Cavalry on the right flank fired at the Down unit of Skeletons - and destroyed them, which meant that the Undead warband was now also Broken!

The battlefield of Desolation Pass at the end of Turn 5. With both Warbands broken, a d6 must be rolled to decide if another Turn had to be played (1-3, the Game ends; 4-6, another Turn is played).

Aaaand.. it's Game Over, Man, Game Over!

The last effort by the Elves was too little, too late. 

The Undead had killed off units at a value of 984 points, and the Elves had killed the equivalent of 622 points.

The defense of Desolation Pass has failed, and the path now lies open for the armies of the Necromancer.

Will the Elves of the Northern Province manage to mobilize sufficient forces to stop the advance of the Undead hordes, or wil the region fall under the Shadow?

Well, I already decided that I like this game enough to make this a narrative campaign, and the next installment will be played against a live opponent taking command of the Elvish forces (my pal Emil and I are going to spend an afternoon playing a smaller battle, as the citizens of the Northern Province scrambles to stop the vanguard of the Undead invaders.

My verdict so far:

I really, really like this game. I like the flexible warband-building, and I like the ebb and flow of the game. I have to play a real opponent a couple of times, though, before I decide if Warlords is going to be my go-to fantasy game (but I have a good feeling about this).

In the meantime, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next battle!

Warlords of Erehwon Solo Game - Turn 4

With the Skeleton Riders pushed back by the Elven Knights, the Wraith felt a bit too exposed and opted to Sprint away from the danger zone.

The Elven Lord's retinue was charged by a Skeleton Warrior unit.

On the opposite flankk, the Knights charged the Skeleton Riders.

And when Consolidating, they followed the path of the Wraith.

The Elven Guard managed to down one (!) Skeleton.

The Undead Warlord willed some Skeleton Warriors with spears to block the path of the Elven Knights. 'Exchange of Missiles' is an important part of this game!

And the Skeletons came out on top of this fight.

Another Elven Cavalry unit failed and Order Test and went Down.

They were subsequently charged, lost the fight, and routed.

The Elven Lord swiftly moved in to avenge the Cavalry.

Another Skeleton Unit failed to Rally.

The Undead Champion charged the remaining Elven Knights. No damage was inflicted, but the Knights had a Pin already and thus lost the fight - and routed! The Champion Consolidated back into cover of the Skeleton battle line.

Some shamblers finally reached the enemy position - and wer chopped to pieces by the Elven Cavalry.

The Elven Hero charged a small Zombie mob. He managed to kill a single opponent, but the mob had Pins already, and it failed its Break Test, resulting in a further three Pins and a total higher than their Command Stat which means the unit was destroyed.

At the end of Turn 4 it was clear that th Elven rssistance would break very soon, but could the defenders of Desolation Pass inflict sufficient damage on the Undead horde to stop their advance?

I forgot to mak a Recovery Test for the Down units, but as soon as I realized, I just removed a Pin from them as if a test had been failed.

Warlords of Erehwon Solo Game - Turn 3

In spite of one hail of arrows after the other, the Dead kept coming. A unit of Skeleton Warriors charged the Elven Archers and paid the price as the Elves downed three of their number with their projectiles.

And then, yes, there WAS carnage.

The Sun was really annoying at this point because of the way it shone through our windows and created stark contrasts on the battlefield, but what can you do?

As both units ended up with five Pins, the combat was a draw, and both units had to take a Break Test. The Skeletons didn't break, The Elves did, taking another five pins and they ran from the battlefield (auto-destroyed because of the number of pins).

On the Elven left, the Cavalry fired at the approaching Zombies and took out a single shambler.

And were then charged by some Skeletons.

Of course, they loosed a volley of arrows into the enemy, but the Skeletons answered with spears (yes, I counted the scythes as spears for this game).

Again, the combat ended with a draw (quite annoying, actually).

Because of their Haughty Disdain, the Elves automatically passed this, their first, Break Test. I marked them with a blue gem to remember that they used the ability. The Dead also just passed their test.

Both units had to Consolidate, so I rolled a die for both to determine which one to move first. 

As it were, the Elves had to move first and sped across the battlefield.

I'm not sure what this pic is about ...

... but here some Zombies came running and passed their Agility Test, so they did not suffer a Pin.

The Elven Warriors did not take the retreat of the Cavalry lightly, and they decided to avenge their brethren. The spears of the Undead claimed some lives, though.

But, never underestimate a pointy-eared angry fellow with a sword. The fight left bones scattered all over the place.

In the center, the Skeleton Riders charged the Elven Guard - an another one bit the dust, as the Guard promtly fired their Longbows.

And even with the hefty SV3 of Lances charging, the Spangly Armour of the Elves protected them from any harm, while another Rider hit the ground. The Undead lost the fight, passed their Break Test, but then had to Consolidate/fall back.

The Undead Warlord (Wraith) again cast his Chill Wind, this time killing three Elven Warriors. Losing more than half their number to a ranged attack, they had to take a Break Test - and failed. Luckily for them, they only suffered one additional Pin - but they were too close to the entrance to the pass, and fled the battlefield.

The Elven Hero charged a small mob of Zombies. Neither side landed any hits!

I think I forgot to take a picture, here, but as far as I remember, the Zombies lost the fight because they already had a Pin, then failed their Break Test and suffered sufficient Pins to be destroyed.

On the other flank, a Zombie mob failed their Order Test to Run, but Zombies do not go Down when failing, instead they Advance (they are slow but relentless).

The Elven Cavalry on the right flank was ordered to fire at the enemy, but they Failed their Order Test and went Down.

The Elven Guard fired at the SKeleton Riders but failed to do any harm (other than the standard single Pin).

Then, the Elven Knights charged in!

The Undead passed their Break Test, and then had to Consolidate/fall back.

The Elven Lord spurred his horse into action, followed closely by his retinue of Bodyguards ...

... and quickly dispatched the Zombies.

Thus endeth the third turn. The fighting has intensified, and nothing is yet decided.

Recovery Test for the 'Down' unit. Passed.

Thoughts so far:

I like it. The exchange of missiles and the constand attacks and counter-attacks makes for a very dynamic game. Combined with the flexiible warband.building, I may prefer this over God of Battles, which has somewhat stiffer army lists.