Battle Report 14
2300pts vs Trident Realms: Control
Narrative Intro:
Eataine slashed at the tentacles coming at him. Again and again his blade Sindarin scythed through all before him. Then horns blew and the vile sea creatures turned and fled. The main Elven host was approaching and the enemy vanguard outmatched headed for the apparent safety of their own lines. It would not last long, however, King Eataine, first of his name, was committed to driving out the sea beasts and spreading civilisation to this wild land.
Game Intro and Lists:
I haven’t been able to play for quite a while as real life has reared it’s ugly head, but as life calmed down I challenged my friend Ben to a game. I’ve been wanting to write a report vs his latest Trident Realm list as it’s a really strong and interesting one.
Elf List:
Mage (Alenui): Inspiring Talisman, Bane Chant, Lightning Bolt: 135pts
Mage (Eldroth): Lightning Bolt, Conjurers Staff, Bane Chant: 125pts
King (King Eataine): Horse, Mace of Crushing: 140pts
Dragon Lord (Vandruil): Healing Brew: 310pts
Seaguard Horde: 260pts
Palace Guard Horde: Fury: 280pts
Quicksilver Regiment: Pathfinder: 260pts
Stormwind Regiment: Strider (1): 230pts
Drakon Horde: Staying Stone: 280pts
Seaguard Regiment: 150pts
Silverbreeze Troop: 130pts
2300pts
This is an evolution of a list I’ve been running since early 3rd edition it’s also the one that I’ve had most of my tournament experience with. It’s very low of drops but has high quality units that are quite flexible. Used well it can be devastating but it’s vulnerable to mistakes as there aren’t a lot of units to bail you out once things go downhill.
Trident Realms List:
Eckter: 165pts
Thull Mythican: Torc of Dissonance: 90pts
Thull Mythican: Spellcaster, Barkskin: 115pts
Depth Horror Horde: Healing Brew: 190pts
Giga Horde: Staying Stone: 210pts
Giga Horde: Fury: 220pts
Knucker: 145pts
Knucker: 145pts
Coral Giant: 215pts
Coral Giant: 215pts
Tidal Swarm: 70pts
Tidal Swarm: 70pts
Hidden Ones Formation (Pathfinder):
Thull Mythican: TC 1 Aura, Gnome Glass Shield: 100pts
Thull Regiment: 170pts
Thull Regiment: 170pts
2300pts
Ben has been running this list since Cok 22 came out and it’s horrible to face. Although there’s no shooting it has a great range of combat units when used against their ideal match ups it’s brutal. The 4 individuals in particular are absolute game winners often buying precious time or adding vital wounds to turn a game.
Deployment and Scenario
We played control as the scenario as I wanted to keep thing simple as I hadn’t played in a while.
Ben won the roll to choose sides taking the south side. I deployed mainly in the open ground to the right preventing terrain hindering my shooting or combat attacks. Ben deployed his lower defence units to the left to benefit from cover whilst his higher defence units faced off against the bulk of my army. I won the roll for first turn and gladly took it.
Elves Turn 1
Keen to land damage and threaten Ben’s right the Elves advanced forwards. Shooting was reasonably effective with a Thull Mythican losing it’s Gnome Glass Shield to lightning along with a Swarm and Thull regiment taking some damage.
Trident Turn 1
Ben advanced cautiously on the right as he bought time for his left flank to move up more aggressively. On the right his Knucker was able to advance into charge range whilst avoiding the arc of the Stormwind Cavalry due to my poor placement.
Elves Turn 2
The Elves decided a tactical withdrawal would be wise for the moment backing up to allow their shooting to continue thinning the ranks of the approaching host. King Eataine charged the rear of the Knucker on the right hoping to build some damage before it hit the Elven lines.
Shooting saw the damaged swarm in the wood destroyed whilst a hail of arrows from the Seaguard caused grievous damage on a Thull regiment and lightning added some wounds to another Mythican.
In combat Eataine cut the sea beast several times but the Knucker remained determined to reach the Elven lines.
Trident Turn 2
With a few units in range to charge Ben started the process of pinning me back. In the centre the injured Thulls attacked the Seaguard Horde whilst the Knucker on the right charged the Palace Guard on the hill. On the left flank the Knucker went into the Silverbreeze keen to shut down their shooting. The remaining units moved up ready to engage next turn.
Shooting saw the remaining Swarm shielded by Barkskin and the Stormwind were pushed back by Eckter’s windblast.
In combat the infantry took limited damage but a high nerve roll (and no inspire nearby) meant the Silverbreeze fled leaving the Knucker in a dangerous position as it pivoted to face my flank.
Elf Turn 3
With the Trident King’s forces closing in the Elves struck hoping to devastate Ben’s lines before he could bring his left wing into the battle. Vandruil astride the fearsome dragon Rhugar led the charge flying over the infantry into the Gigas whilst his Drakon Rider Kin charged the injured Mythican hoping to overrun into the Gigas behind.
The Elven infantry was already engaged so looked to finish off the wounded Thulls and Knucker so that they could join the main conflict next turn. Lord Helikaon master of Horse led his Quicksilver cavalry into the wood hoping to finish off the second Thull regiment and buy time for the Elven right flank to swing round. King Eataine with limited options charged the flank of the Giant hoping to distract it.
Shooting was limited but Eldroth summoned the power of his staff directing lightning to cascade over the Thull Mythican standing by the giant on the right it was all to much to bear and the Mythican fled the field. Alenui also cast bane chant enhancing the Drakon’s already potent claws.
Combat was a mixed bag high damage rolls where I didn’t need them were offset by weak rolls where I did. The infantry cleared off their targets and the Drakons successfully killed the Mythican and overran into the Gigas but neither Gigas could be significantly damaged. Worst of all rubber lance syndrome meant the Quicksilver Cavalry were unable to even waver the Thulls in the wood meaning both they and the Drakon Riders were in a perilous position.
Trident Turn 3
With limited success for the Elves the sea creatures were able to unleash their fury on the engaged units. In the wood the Cavalry’s failure to even waver the Thulls meant the Thulls could now flank the Drakons engaged with the Gigas. The Knights themselves were hit on two sides by a giant and a Knucker. The Swarm charged the Seaguard Regiment whilst the few remaining units moved into position for next turn.
Shooting saw the Swarm again boosted by Barkskin. Eckter’s windblast, however, was little more than a puff of air moving the Stormwind bank an inch crucially not far enough to deny them charges.
In combat the Drakons were easily overwhelmed by the combined Gigas and Thulls in the centre. The mighty dragon Rhugar took terrible blows from the second unit of Gigas but readied itself to retaliate. The Seaguard took a single wound from the Swarm as it hindered itself in the forest.
Finally the Quicksilver Knights were hit from front and flank by the Giant and the Knucker causing 12 damage. All seemed lost until the nearby Alenui sung out in his sweet voice a song of hope and courage, steeled by the young prince’s heroic song the elves gritted their teeth and remained on the battlefield (got a waver on the reroll).
Elf Turn 4
The Quicksilver Cavalry holding due to Alenui’s song was a boon as was Eckter’s poor wind blast roll. I set about taking full advantage. Lord Vandruil and the dragon Rhugar had a flank on the Gigas whilst the Palace Guard charged down the hill into the Gigas he had been facing. The Seaguard horde went into the injured Thulls in the centre. On the right the Stormwind and King Eataine charged the Giant whilst the Seaguard regiment on the left pulled back to buy time vs the Swarm and Depth Horrors.
Shooting was limited with lightning doing minimal damage to the Depth Horrors. (I should really have bane chanted the Seaguard and Stormwind here as neither combat was an easy rout).
In combat King Eataine wielding his ancient sword Sindarin cut 4 mighty wounds into the Coral Giant all the Stormwind had left to do was finish the job sadly it was not to be as only a few lances hits home leaving the mighty giant unphased.
The Gigas and Thulls however, presented no issue and were swept away with the Elves having cleared the centre but the Trident Realms held the left and had the giant threatening from the right (I screwed up here not leaving anything major to threaten the giant incase my Cavalry got wavered/routed).
Trident Turn 4
With both sides down to a few remaining units Ben attempted to swing things back in his favour. Eckter and the Giant destroyed the Stormwind Cav (Eckter doing 5 wounds which sadly isn’t at all unusual!). The Quicksilver Cav in the wood also perished to the Knucker but fortune favoured the Elves as both Seaguard units weren’t heavily impacted by the Sea Creatures they faced.
Elves Turn 5
Losing the Stormwind on the right was a mistake of my own making, as was having limited options to deal with it. King Eataine prayed his blade Sindarin could continue to be the Giant’s bane and once more charged in. Vandruil was just in range of the Swarm on the left flank so moved over to try and keep the Depth Horrors busy. The giant in the centre meanwhile was charged by both the infantry hordes hoping to finish off the unharmed monstrosity in one fell swoop.
Shooting was more of a signing phase as both mages sung great songs of valour to the Palace Guard and King Eataine strengthening their sword arms (bane chants).
Combat saw the Dragon reduce the Tidal Swarm to Calamari. Crucially King Eataine didn’t let me down scoring 4 more wounds toppling the Giant. The other Giant was also felled by the combined might of the Elven infantry.
Trident Turn 5
Ben had few options left. The Knucker and the Mythican made a desperate attempt to rout the Seaguard Horde (forcing Alenui to sing a song of epic courage once again to keep them in place) whilst Eckter windblasted the Palace Guard and the Depth Horrors finished off the Seaguard Regiment.
Elf Turn 6
Things were looking good for the elves they just needed to hang on to the central board sections. The Palace Guard charged the rear of the Knucker to clear it off whilst the mages and the Dragon targeted the Depth Horrors. Crucially King Eataine needed to disrupt Eckter from using his windblast on the Palace Guard.
Combined shooting from dragon’s breath and lighting bolts saw the Depth Horrors wavered whilst in combat ever reliable King Eataine landed crucial damage on Eckter disrupting him. The Knucker was easily killed off by the Palace Guard in the rear.
At this point Ben decided to concede as he’d have no way of keeping the Palace Guard out of his central board section scoring 2 points ensuring an Elven victory.
Narrative ending:
Alenui and Eldroth sat in a glade away from the jubilant Elven host. With the vile Sea Creatures vanquished most of the elves could return to their blissful lives. Not so for the two Loremasters, responsibility lay heavy on them as the composed new ballads recording the victory of King Eataine ready to inspire and embolden his host when they next faced peril.
Conclusions and Jubilations:
I was pleased to get a victory again Ben and his list as I’m aware of how brutal it can be. I’m also happy that I wasn’t too rusty with only a few errors on my part (most of which didn’t cost me too badly).
I do enjoy the Dragon list, whilst it has very few drops (only 11 at 2300pts) which makes deployment challenging once the game begins having several powerful units means it feels like you can do a lot with the list.
King Eataine was a clear star of the show landing 3/4 wounds every turn. I’ve been using a more expensive build (Shard blade and Beast Slayer sword) in my other lists to make up for a lack of high CS (as they don’t have a dragon) but it was nice to get back to having a cheaper king used for distraction and flanking vs the endlessly frustrating ensnare.
I was really happy with using the flyers behind my infantry hordes, it gave them significant protection whilst also allowing me to focus my forces on a smaller area reducing Ben’s advantage from outnumbering me.
Things I need to watch for are using my mages to block Eckter’s infernal windblast, choosing the order of my combats and making the right choices between bane chanting and lightning bolt with my mages.