A sorcerer has dabbled in forces that he shouldn't, and unleashed a horde of Daemons upon the Old World. The High Elves muster a force to put down this unnatural menace before the threat can grow.
Here follows an account of a 2-player, 2,000 point battle between Chaos Daemons and High Elves. We played using standard pitched battle rules with the original Warmaster rules, where one army withdraws once it has suffered 50% of its units as casualties.
The High Elves
The High Elves took a fairly standard list featuring a large number of fast moving cavalry.
High Elf, 2000 points
Warmaster Armies
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240 - 4 Spearmen
225 - 2 Archers
440 - 4 Silver Helms
300 - 3 Reavers
285 - 3 Chariots
70 - 1 Giant Eagles
180 - 1 General
80 - 1 Hero
180 - 2 Wizards
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2000 - 18/9
The Daemons
This was my first outing with the Daemons, and I wanted to try a list with a lot of spellcasting characters to bolster my forces when they were depleted using the Summon Daemons spell.
Daemon, 2000 points Warmaster Armies -------------------------------- 450 - 6 Daemon Hordes 90 - 2 Daemon Swarm 440 - 4 Daemon Cavalry 180 - 2 Daemon Hounds 220 - 1 Daemon Beasts 160 - 2 Daemon Flyers 160 - 1 Daemon Overlord - 1 Wizard (25) 300 - 3 Daemon Lord Wizard -------------------------------- 2000 - 17/9
The High Elves deployed in neat formations (as always) infantry on one flank facing down the daemon infantry with archers in front, and spears behind. The armoured punch of the elf force was ordered into neat brigades beside them, with the Chariots and lightly armoured Reaver Knights on the flank and Silver Helms in the centre.
The Daemons clustered together near the tower. Two brigades each made up of 3 Hordes and a Daemon swarm screen comprised the main infantry battle-line. On the flank the cavalry were formed into two brigades, each with 2 Daemon Cavalry and a single unit of Hell-Hounds. The fearsome Daemon Beasts and flyers were at the rear as a reserve.
The Elf advance was orderly with the archers spreading out into a screen and moving ever closer to get the Daemon Hordes within their range. The Chariots and Reaver knights moved forward on the flank while the Spear-elves, Silver Helms and Eagles remained in place.
Slowly the Daemon advance closed in on the high elves, shrugging off the initial volleys of arrows. The High Elves were quick to pounce on such disorganisation, and a brave unit of chariots plunged into the Daemon flank, hoping to cut through the Daemon Cavalry before it could attack the nearby archers.
However, the bravery of the chariot crew was not matched by their skill at arms, and they were initially repelled and then cut down by the Daemons. However, having successfully drawn the Daemon cavalry from the more vulnerable archers, more High Elf Machines ploughed forward into the Daemons as Reaver horse archers felled unengaged daemons with well placed arrows.
On the other flank, a unit of hell hounds bounded forward to tear through the elf archers, destroying one unit as the others fell back, firing as they retreated. Had the Daemon infantry been able to follow up this attack the elves would have suffered greatly, but the Daemon infantry still refused to charge as the elves hastily re-assembled their battle line as instability claimed the injured hounds.
On the plain before the tower the elf chariot attacks, combined with fickle daemonic instability, wiped out almost all of the Daemon Cavalry, although not before they had inflicted heavy losses on the elves. The Elf Chariots were destroyed and a ferocious Daemon counter-attack as a unit of Daemon Beasts lurched forward and tore through the Reaver Knights, slaughtering them.
The elves sensed the moment was now. Both sides had lost an almost equal number of units, but the Daemons (who had less cavalry to begin with) were now reduced to just one unit of cavalry, a single unit of hounds and two surviving Daemon beasts. If the elves could destroy these remaining units, the day would be theirs.
The Eagles swooped down on the hounds, and supported by the surviving Reaver Knights, they slew them swiftly.
The Elf Speamen charged forward, and cut their way through the twitching daemon swarm and destroyed a Daemon Horde. However, now finally stirred to action the remaining Daemon infantry stirred to life and cut down the elves.
Now the Elf General ordered forward the Silver Helm Knights, and two units swept around the tower to charge the remaining daemons. The elves sensed victory. But the terrible Daemon Beasts repelled the elves and forced them back.
The Daemon Overlord and his wizards channelled all their magic, summoning fresh Damon Beasts and cavalry into the melee. The Damon counter charge smashed through the Silver Helms and wiped out the elven knights. Seeing the cream of their army destroyed with such violence the High Elf army was broken, and withdrew, leaving the Daemons to wreck havoc across the Old World.
Postscript: An extremely close game and a good first outing for the Daemons (the Daemons were just 2 units away from breaking when they broke the elves) The elf command dice were great, but their combat rolls were average, whereas the Daemons sucked at orders, but did well in the fighting. Losing 3 units to Daemonic Instability and having another confused was a bit of an eye opener to how much variability this list affords but the Daemon Beasts really saved the day.