This is a continuation of my tournament report from the event at Gaming Arena in November 2025. You can find the previous part here.
I had already successfully avoided losing all of my games at the event, so now I could get on with the serious business of crushing hopes and dreams. Exactly whose hopes and dreams remained to be seen...
Game 2 - Drawn Battlelines (Strategic Locations (3), Baggage Train)
Lachie Mulcahy - High Elves
- Prince on Star Dragon with Full plate armour, Seed of Rebirth, Opal Amulet, Sword of Might, Dragon Helm, Pure of Heart
- Archmage (Level 4, Elementalism) with Sea Guard, Lore Familiar
- 27 Lothern Sea Guard with Shields, Full Command, Razor Standard
- 6 Silver Helms with Shields, Standard Bearer, High Helm
- 5 Ellyrian Reavers with Cavalry Spears, Shortbows, Skirmishers, Harbinger
- 8 Dragon Princes with Full Command, Loremaster's Cloak, War Banner
- 5 Shadow Warriors with Ambushers
- 10 Sisters of Avelorn with High Sister (Bow of the Seafarer)
The diagonal deployment saw Lachie hide his cavalry behind the hill near his table edge. The Sea Guard were in the forest and the Star Dragon might have been behind it, but then Lachie got the first turn and things shifted a bit. The Sea Guard teleported out of the forest with Travel Mystical Pathway, meaning they weren't wasting a turn of shooting by marching.
I had deployed a Cannon over on the shallow edge of my deployment zone, and then placed a few things nearby to help provide cover if the Shadow Warriors suddenly appeared from Ambush. The Outriders used vanguard to advance, but then a few of them fell victim to the firing Sea Guard.
At least the enemy cavalry were still hiding...
In my turn I decided I could sneak the Outriders around the forest to take shots at the Silver Helms without the Sea Guard shooting back. The other, already depleted unit sat tight and helped pour fire into the Sea Guard.
The Sea Guard copped a bit of a hiding, but the Dragon shrugged off the cannonballs from the Cannon that could see it and the Steam Tank. I advanced a bit on the left, claiming the objective there and hopefully threatening the cavalry if they emerged.
The Dragon flew up and ate the Outrider champion, which was enough to scare his friend off the board.
He then reformed, which was maybe not the right decision with both Cannon right there...
After the hammering they took the previous turn, the Archmage started to protect what remained of the Sea Guard with Earthen Ramparts. The Dragon Princes emerged on top of the hill, but the Reavers started to work their way sideways behind the lines.
This seemed a reasonable face off to me. I could pick at them with the War Wagon's shooting and the Handgunner detachment, then hopefully take them in combat.
In my turn the War Wagon resisted the urge to charge the Dragon, letting the Cannons have their shots at it. Some damage was done, but not enough.
The Steam Tank charged the Silver Helms, who failed their terror test and were run down by the Outriders. Was a bit unlucky on Lachie's part, given they had Ld10.
The Halberdiers in the centre had decided to make a rush at the depleted Sea Guard and try to contest that central objective. My shooting was not nearly so effective this time around.
Having weathered another round of shooting, the Star Dragon charged the Cannon on the hill only to see it bravely run away, and outdistance the charge.
I had thought I'd put the War Wagon far enough away at the Dragon Princes would struggle to make the charge, but Lachie used Drilled to make them a bit narrower, reducing their wheel, and it was just enough for them to make the charge. The combat didn't go terribly, including the Dragon Prince champion being felled, but ultimately the presence of the War Banner was too much, and the Wagon broke and was run down.
They then reformed looking around the corner of the forest, and never moved again. They didn't fancy the fully ranked unit with the detachment waiting for them.
So my Halberdiers in the centre... Yeah. The Sea Guard teleported away again with Travel Mystical Pathway, and the shooting (mainly from the Sisters of Avelorn) absolutely withered my unit. In the end only my General remained.
The game progressed, and I was taking fewer photos as fewer decisive events were taking place. The Dragon charged the Cannon a second time and removed it, then spent a turn eating my Baggage Train. The Shadow Warriors finally turned up after a couple of failed Ambush rolls, and at this point they were so late that they didn't come up behind my lines at all. They instead popped up near Lachie's own Baggage Train to help keep me off it. Having had chances to charge the Dragon with the War Wagons (and realising it would go terribly), I eventually moved them up the table to try to force my way to Lachie's lines alongside the Steam Tank. I was too late in making that decision.
The Dragon lacked good targets, but started making its way back into the centre, in pursuit of my War Wagons and Steam Tank.
My Outriders got wiped out by the shooting over on the right, so my ability to claim the Baggage Train was gone. I could still have destroyed it with a War Wagon, but I had been too slow getting over there. The front Wagon here was actually rallying after fleeing from the Dragon, and thus held up the other one as well. I was fumbling my lines a bit.
The stand-off continued over on the other flank. The Sisters had contributed greatly to depleting my army into an ineffective force, and I had been largely powerless to do anything about it. I couldn't hit them with return fire, and couldn't force a spell through to whittle them down.
The final act of the game was the Dragon charging into the Steam Tank and killing it over the course of a couple of rounds of combat. The Dragon itself had taken maybe 5 or 6 wounds from my Cannons, but it was not enough to give me any points for my trouble. In the end I had lost a War Wagon, Halberdier regiment and detachment, both Outrider units, a Cannon and the Steam Tank. In return I had killed the Silver Helms and Ellyrian Reavers (I shot them off in the final turn). So... Basically nothing. I think I actually had slightly more points from the central objectives, but I had been comprehensively outfought and Lachie had also eaten my Baggage Train. I had lost convincingly.
It was a frustrating game, as my army had lacked the tools to address certain targets (like the Sisters of Avelorn), and the only way we were ever going to kill the Dragon was with some good Cannon shots. The Sea Guard eluding me when I had crippled them was very frustrating. I had been too slow to commit my War Wagons across the field. They never contributed much with shooting, and given they were unwilling to charge the Dragon (even when it was facing the other way) meant I was just wasting what they did have to offer by holding them back. Oh well, live and learn.
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