Massacre at Dwarven Tower Pass - a view from the other side of the table
The August issue of Wargames Illustrated Magazine (Wi440) features a Billhooks Fantasía battle report, written by Billhooks author and temporary dark lord Andy Callan. His opponent, the (permanently) upstanding and chivalrous Steve Wood, provides his angle on the encounter.
My mission, as Lord Drake, the commander of the good guys, was to rescue my daughter. Princess Mandarina had fallen into the clutches of the evil horde that had kidnapped her, the Raiding Force of Thaddues the Malevolent (aka Andy Callan). Lord Drake had caught up with the bad guys in Dwarven Tower Pass, where two estranged and magical dwarven brothers resided. I had no idea whether these magicians would be a help or a hindrance during the coming battle, so a cautious approach was taken. The objective of the battle was to rescue the princess, or at least get close enough to provide a distraction, allowing her to break free.
My initial plan was to use the two cavalry units out on the flanks (one Human, one Elvish) to spring the rescue. Lord Drake and his contingent of infantry and archers were positioned in the centre of the field, ready to advance, but also keeping an eye on the two warring wizards. The blue wiz had a grumpy looking giant hanging around at the base of his tower, which of course drew at least some attention!
To support the Lord, my 'good' wizard, Bayaz, was also in attendance. I hoped he could supply some potent magic if needed. Also in my force was a level one monster, 'Orace the Ogre. I didn't expect too much from him - past games had shown that monsters threatened more than they delivered.
The High Elf cavalry were my strongest unit and I backed these with both of my units of skirmishers, including a concealed unit of 'lurking' archers. The plan was to punch through the right flank and charge to the Princesses’ rescue.
The battle started well, with my human cavalry destroying a unit of Goblin Wolf Riders in their first encounter. The dice were very much in my favour with maximum kills and no losses! The subsequent pursuit double Disordered the cavalry, so I was unable to press home the advantage gained.
In the centre, Andy caused me some concern when he launched a War Elephant at my lines (a Level 2 monster), along with his Skeleton Horde. The problem with the Skeletons was that not only would they cause my infantry to take a Dread Test, but that my archers were entirely useless against skellys - the arrows just pass through them.
Fortunately, for me, the War Elephant failed to reach my units and stopped within Short Range of my archers. As they had not been activated, they were able to take a 'free' shot at the end of their turn. Luck was also on my side as it was Lord Drake’s card that came up first in the next turn. This meant that the archers 72 short range arrow shots into the Elephant... even the toughest monster would not survive that onslaught!
Meanwhile, in sheer desperation, 'Orace charged the Skeleton Horde. The best I hoped for was that he would slow them down and take a few with him before he was taken out himself. 'Orace did better than that! Unfazed by the horde, he ploughed into them, winning combat and daunted them. By now, Lord Drake had rearranged his Spearmen, and charged home in support of the triumphant Ogre. Bones flew in all directions as the Skeleton horde was destroyed.
On the right, the Elvish Cavalry had seen off an Orc horde and were ready to advance, to rescue the Princess. Evil Andy's wizard had other ideas, casting a powerful spell and erecting an impenetrable Wall of Flames, stopping the elves in their tracks. On the left, the human cavalry, although rallied, were beginning to take casualties. They were still a threat, but were perilously close to losing a morale check.
In the centre, the two wizards in the towers seemed to be making all sorts of mischief, with walls and barriers moving around at random. Andy's messenger had also enlisted the help of one of the wizards and was engaged in some sort of mystery mission which didn't look good for me. The evil horde had also moved up in the centre and was using the cover of the tower and Wall of Flame to shoot arrows into my Elves, gradually inflicting the odd casualty while they were caught in the open.
I tried to use my wizard to interfere with this strategy, but, alas, Wizard Bayas, turned out to be more Joan Baez than his fearsome namesake of the Joe Abercrombie books! He failed to cast even a level one spell.
Fortunately, my messenger had reached the other wizard’s tower and, as much from spite towards his rival as generosity, he loaned me his giant, Two things then happened in quick succession. The good guys’ monster card came up, allowing me to charge the Giant and 'Orace the Ogre into the side of the Orc block. They failed their dread test, as did the infantry guarding the Princess, and they fled the field! A drawn bonus card roll-off meant that the wall of flame fizzled out, leaving the Elf commander, Eldred, to ride to rescue the Princess. Victory for the forces of Good!
“Oi! pointy ears, what took you so long? I've been stuck in this stinking carriage for days...” Alas, there was no sign of any romance as the Princess freed herself and went to find her father, Lord Drake.
By Steve Wood