With pandemic lockdown in the
This week I finally managed to get Warband Fantasy into the realms of the electronic. Tonight we ran a multiplayer game with the Dark Elves facing off against a warband of Samurai Apes!
So, here we go.
The Samurai Apes
On the northern fringes of the element-shattered lands resits the fiefdom of the ancient Ninkoku Clan, led by the Daimyo Songoku. Songoku is the 14th son of the Ninkoku dynasty and is ably advised by his kraken mage Tako Uizad.
For four months Songoku's northern ice-hamlets have been raided, harried, and deprived by a foul Dark Elf warhost. Songoku has pressed them sorely to drive them out. Finally he has brought their army to battle and the matter will now be decided.
No quarter will be asked or given; the Dark Elves die or the Ninkoku Clan's reign will fall...
Samurai Apes (Ninkoku Clan)
- 496pts
- 10 Units
- 1x Daimyo [Average] (Songoku)
- 1x Kraken [Good] (Tako Uizad)
- 2x Samurai archers [Powerful]
- 4x Samurai warriors [Powerful]
- 2x Samurai tiger riders
The Dark Elves
For over a year now Chief Khedir has held together a ragtag and fractious alliance of Dark Elf kinfolk, warbands, and merciless mercenaries. With this strength he expanded his power in the subterranean nether-caves.
Reaching the limits of thier underground territory, four months ago he led his War Host to the surface in search of glory, plunder, and slaves. Khedir, and his warlock Ingole Nar, found themselves in and icy wasteland. Making their way south they found poorly defended settlements, populated with ape-beast fishermen, and snow-corn farmers.
The raiding was bountiful!
But now an ape-land has come from the south and the Dark Elves can avoid battle no longer. Khedir must win; if he does, his position will be secure and the pillaging will be legendary. If not, then only death at the hands of the enemy, or his own followers awaits...
Dark Elves (War Host of Chief Khedir)
- 496pts
- 11 Units
- 1x Chieftain [Average] (Khedir, of the Fara’Efir Clan)
- 1x Warlock [Good] (Ingole Nar)
- 2x Archers
- 4x Warriors [Fierce]
- 1x Assassins
- 1x Cave Spiders
- 1x Witch Cultists
The
This is a simple fight to the death.
Deployment
Both armies deploy as specified in the core rules.
Terrain
- The ice terrain is open terrain.
- The areas of rocks/boulders are limiting terrain: Rough Ground.
- The hills are limiting terrain: Hills.
- The lake is impassable terrain:
Victory
The standard victory conditions apply. An army breaks when it reaches 50% casualties on points.
The Dark Elves break at 248pts lost.
The Samurai Apes break at 248pts lost.
Initial setup
As most of the players were new to Warband, I thought it unlikely we would finish the game, so to save time I preset the battlefield; in this case an icy realm of hills and broken ice chunks.
So this initial (virtual) table looked like this.
The Dark Elves in the camp awaiting deployment.
Deployment
The armies deployed onto the ice plain between the impassable frost water and the frozen rocky hill. Both battle lines formed a mix of archers and infantry warriors.
Turn 1
Gaining the initiative, the dark elf chieftain began a cautious move forwards with the commander taking direct control and enacting an army-wide “group move”. They pushed forwards a base depth, willing to wait for the Apes to make a move.
The Daimyo of the Ape army tried to match his elven foe, but failed his motivation test for an army-wide group move. The Samurai Apes stood where they were and didn’t move.
Turn 2
The dark elf warlock weaves his magic around the nearby archers, imbuing them with “raider’s savagery” to make their archery more effective at a longer range. The elves expect that they will be in range to open the attack this turn.
The Samurai Apes respond with magic of their own, giving their troops on the ice-hill the “hill walkers” special ability with the “elemental infusion” spell.
 |
| Nothing like the weave of a Warlock to make arrows fly true... |
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| Magic will get those Ape warrios off the hill... |
The Dark Elf battle line then advances, contracting to avoid the hill on its flank. It moves into archery range, prepared for its opening volleys.
The Samurai Apes respond with the risky tactic of sending their powerful mounted tiger riders out on a dual flanking envelopment.
The Dark Elf archers open hostilities with a hail of arrows on the two ends of the Ape lines. They inflict minimal casualties, and the Ape warriors shrug off the damage as black arrows skitter across the ice.
Turn 3
Consistently winning the initiative, the Dark Elves push on into a position between the ice-lake and hill. The Samurai Apes hold their main main line back to give their tiger riders the chance to get into the rear of the elf warband.
Isolated from their friends, the tiger riders motivation drops and the Daimyo is too car off to aid them with his Command Points. None-the-less some good dice rolling means they make good progress on their flank march.
As this is happening, the two archery lines close in and the Dark Elves once again score some hits on the ends of the Ape line. However, inspired by their Daimyo the Ape archers return with a vicious and effective barrage of arrows. The Ape players made good use of their Command Points to pack out their archery attacks but to no avail. The elves stood largely unharmed and set about taunting their simian foes!
Turn 4
The Samurai Apes finally wrest the initiative from the elves, but their motivation to do anything with it falters, and most of their troops stand still. Failing to press their advantage, the tiger riders mill about beyond the ice lake, clearly intimidated by the rear of the elven assassins unit…
Turn 5
Finally the tiger riders get it together and charge into the rear of the Dark Elf Assassins. The elven killers attempt to evade the charge, but fail their motivation to get out of the way, despite their commander shouting at them to do so!
Nobody thinks this will be pretty…
The Dark Elves echelon their line out to try to press their overlap into the Ape formation, hoping the Assassins will be able to drive off the Tiger Riders to their rear. The Apes move out to meet them. Over on the other flank, the line breaks up as the elves try to use magic and archery to drive off the Tiger Riders and open the other end of the Ape front line.
And the first melee of the game is brutal for both sides. Hit in the rear, the Assassins are still a formidable opponent, armed with petty magic, poisoned blades and vicious skill. Both sides inflict serious harm (and “powerful” hits) on each other. But while the Tiger Riders hold their nerve, the Assassins’ Morale collapses and as they rout and flee, the Tiger Riders cut them down. First blood to the Samurai Apes.
Turn 6
The Ape Daimyo’s command impetus fails him (rolling only one Command Point). Seeing him falter, the Dark Elf Warlock casts “Arcane Winds” and drains what’s left of the Daimyo’s command potential (removing the 1 Command Point!)
The Dark Elf line then charges in, led by the fearsome swarm of giant spiders!
Hovering above his battleline, the Samurai Kraken spellcaster bolstered the entire Ape line with “irrepressible belligerence”. With such powerful magic imbued in them, the Apes would hopefully withstand the terrible assault.
All across the line, magic, archery, and swirling melee raged. The Dark Elves got the worst of it, losing a unit of Warriors…
…and at that our time for the evening ran out. The Dark Elf players conceded (as they had lost two units to the Samurai Apes zero) and we wrapped up.
Overall a fun game of Warband Fantasy, and the build in Roll20 worked very well.
I’m looking forwards to next week’s battle!
