Today we see the Latari Elves fight off the shambling hordes of the Waiqar undead. This 200 pt game had the following 2 lists:

Elves -198
Aliana of Summersong - Ambush Predator

Deepwood Archers 2x1 Tempered Steel
Deepwood Archers 2x1 Tempered Steel
Deepwood Archers 2x1 Wind Rune
Deepwood Archers 2x1 Wind Rune

Leonx Riders 2x1 Rank Discipline
Leonx Riders 2x1 Rank Discipline

Aymhelin Scions x1 Raven Tabards
Aymhelin Scions x1 Raven Tabards

Waiqar - 196

Ardus Ix Erebus x1 Ancient Technique
Reanimates 2x2Ankaur Maro, Blighted Vexillum Bearer, Trumpets
Reanimates 3x2 - Deathcaller, Support Carrion Lancer, Blighted Vexillum Bearer, Trumpets, Simultaneous Orders
Reanimate Archers 2x1 Combat Ingenuity

Carrion Lancers x1

Carrion Lancers x1

Set up

The Waiqar knew that they could easily be outflanked by the fast moving Latari so chose a careful approach. The Latari knew that they could use this very advantage to their benefit and selected Hunter's Quarry, any day in which the undead were driven back into the grave they came from was a good day. With the Stone Terrace dominating the middle of the battleground both generals knew this would be a hotly contested piece of terrain.

Turns 1 and 2

Both armies moved forward with some inspiring Elven ballads being sung of summer days and the finest wines. The undead hordes seemed to swell as more reanimate archers rose from the very earth. In an unexpected burst of speed the largest battalion of reanimates seized the high ground afforded by the stone terrace. Being forward thinking elves they had arranged themselves to pepper the heights with well aimed arrows.

Turns 3 and 4

The elves decimated the reanimates on the hill with just the front line carrion crawler left standing only to see Maro raise just enough rank and file skeletons to keep the now diminished battalion in the battle. On the undead right flank a carrion crawler and scion faced off taking punishment from the Dimoran Fissure. Further to their side Aliana and her outriders swung past the rent in the fabric of the earth to expose the flanks of the Waiqar army.

Turns 5 and 6

Maro led his own regiment up onto the heights of the Stone Terrace only to see the elves aligned in series of ranks with bows at the ready. His regiment fell all around him until only a few reanimates were left. But that was all Maro required as he continued to raise the large battalion back up to full strength, he even took an arrow to the knee himself. On the elven right a scion slammed into Ardus and held him up those crucial few minutes whilst the bow elves did their best to stop the horde in its tracks. Out on the far left flank Alaina and her Leonx Riders swept up the undead sides, perhaps they had timed their charge just a little too late. But danger lurked in the centre of the elven lines as the reanimate battalion continued to grow in strength now having caught the first of the bow elves.

Maro limped off the stony heights just as some Leonx outriders crested from the north. Under the cover of the larger battalion he was now free to wield his necrotic magics. Alaina lined up her own charge, the reanimate archers oblivious to the ambushing predator in their midst.

Turns 7 and 8

The Leonx riders continued their charge over the top of the stony outpost and slammed into the back of a carrion crawler in a desperate bid to stop the foul denizen. Ardus dispatched the scion but was himself immobilized by the great tree as it fell to the earth. Maro saw his opportunity and slipped back into the fort upon the hill. Somehow the foul necromancer kept the reanimate arches alive and thereby tied up the elven left flank. With a great sweep to the right the large battalion of reanimates trampled another elven bow regiment into the ground. The battle had swung decisively towards the Waiqar as the Latari couldn't keep the undead from rising out of the ground. If perhaps they could shoot down the necromancer they would be able to stop the waves of undead reappearing and carry the day. But alas the evil delver of unspeakable magics escaped the tightening noose and slipped into the growing gloom.

Overview

Well the undead carried the day 193 to 136, largely helped by gaining 4 tokens to 1, most picked up from two dead elven units.

This was the first time I tried a MSU style Latari army. I was super impressed by the Tempered Steel equipped bow elves, they managed 5 surges twice for 10 damage,this is what really stripped down the reanimates. It was just a shame that Maro was so adept at bringing them back. The runes were heavily green for the first 4 turns then went oddly silent, this was what attributed towards the bow elves begin caught, they couldn't shift away fast enough whilst maintaining a steady stream of arrows. Also having the cavalry arrive so late contributed to the elven lose.

On the Waqai side, the large piece of scenery in the middle of the board really attributed towards their victory. Slingshoting the large unit of reanimates into the middle of the elven lines was a real disrupter. Maro even held off adding trays to this unit so it could fit onto the Stone Terrace. In some ways by boosting the archers up by an additional 3 trays they were able to hold off the elven cavalry for a critical turn, a failed charge also assisted (blocked by millimeters because of Alaina's tray, how many times have we seen this happen) .

A great game though.

Great battle report, thank you very much for writing it.

Thanks for the battle report! Great way to start a Sunday morning. I want to talk about turn 1, because starting deployments are so crucial in this game. Let me just get out my pen...

In the picture above, the Elven archers are in a great position and the Scions are perfectly set up to block for them. Scions even have a ranged attack to use while they hold formation. But instead, the Scions jump the gun, rush forward, and allow the unit of reanimates to slip past them. Also, the cavalry here fall for the same trap as mine did in this deployment. By the time they skirt around the flank, the battle is already over.

Side note: Tempered Steel reads "{Surge}: Exhaust this card to add {hit}." That means you can only use it 1 time to add 1 hit, then the card is exhausted.

Thank you for the battle report.

*rules police enters*

I have to point out though that it looks like you have used Maro as an infantry upgrade. In that case you should use the infantry Maro figure, surrounded by 3 reanimates, like with any other champion. Also Maro always adds ranks to the back so that the threat of the unit never increases.

Enjoyable read. A shame about the outcome though. Will the forces of evil ever be stopped!

25 minutes ago, Contrapulator said:

Side note: Tempered Steel reads "{Surge}: Exhaust this card to add {hit}." That means you can only use it 1 time to add 1 hit, then the card is exhausted.

This, tempered steel adds a single hit and exhausts

53 minutes ago, Ywingscum said:

Enjoyable read. A shame about the outcome though. Will the forces of evil ever be stopped!

Tragic, isn't it? At least the carrion lancers looked fabulous while doing it. Those things really pop in all the photos. Although I gotta say, more beauty than brains - what the heck was that one lancer doing, trying to throw itself into a Dimoran fissure?

6 hours ago, Contrapulator said:

In the picture above, the Elven archers are in a great position and the Scions are perfectly set up to block for them. Scions even have a ranged attack to use while they hold formation. But instead, the Scions jump the gun, rush forward, and allow the unit of reanimates to slip past them. Also, the cavalry here fall for the same trap as mine did in this deployment. By the time they skirt around the flank, the battle is already over.

Side note: Tempered Steel reads "{Surge}: Exhaust this card to add {hit}." That means you can only use it 1 time to add 1 hit, then the card is exhausted.

Good feedback, yes the cavalry were certainly not deployed as well as they could have been. Should have had at least one unit on the elven right. This is all that saved the Waiqar from a crushing defeat.

First time Tempered Steel has seen the tabletop. Read it as use as many surges as you have then exhaust the card. Not as good then and bow elves still have the damage output issue.

We also did terrain slightly wrong, there were a few times a unit slipped out of terrain and another one, from the opposite army, slipped in. What we got wrong was that the unit still touching the terrain that had just left was now engaged with the unit which had just entered. This would have seen Maro die maybe 2 turns earlier and once again the battle would have had a different outcome.

Thems the breaks.

5 hours ago, Contrapulator said:

Although I gotta say, more beauty than brains - what the heck was that one lancer doing, trying to throw itself into a Dimoran fissure?

Rules misread, we thought 1 damage, by the time they got there and it was realised 1 wound it was too late and we had to suck it up.

6 hours ago, King Cheesecake said:

Thank you for the battle report.

*rules police enters*

I have to point out though that it looks like you have used Maro as an infantry upgrade. In that case you should use the infantry Maro figure, surrounded by 3 reanimates, like with any other champion. Also Maro always adds ranks to the back so that the threat of the unit never increases.

Because I only have the Maro cavalry model painted, and it looks cooler. Hence why I used the necromancer infantry model towards the end of the game once Maro's tray was sustaining damage.

1 minute ago, Thornoo1 said:

Because I only have the Maro cavalry model painted, and it looks cooler. Hence why I used the necromancer infantry model towards the end of the game once Maro's tray was sustaining damage.

Rule of cool wins every time!

1 minute ago, Contrapulator said:

Rule of cool wins every time!

Why I like ground hawthorne with his big sword out better as well.

7 hours ago, Contrapulator said:

Thanks for the battle report! Great way to start a Sunday morning. I want to talk about turn 1, because starting deployments are so crucial in this game. Let me just get out my pen...

In the picture above, the Elven archers are in a great position and the Scions are perfectly set up to block for them. Scions even have a ranged attack to use while they hold formation. But instead, the Scions jump the gun, rush forward, and allow the unit of reanimates to slip past them. Also, the cavalry here fall for the same trap as mine did in this deployment. By the time they skirt around the flank, the battle is already over.

Side note: Tempered Steel reads "{Surge}: Exhaust this card to add {hit}." That means you can only use it 1 time to add 1 hit, then the card is exhausted.

Sir,

You are are the John Madden of Runewars!

1 hour ago, kac said:

Sir,

You are are the John Madden of Runewars!

I want to say false, because he stayed on topic. But I see where you're going with this.

This report is excellently written! Thank you so much for sharing! Careful Approach is probably my least favorite deployment card. The first time I tried it, my opponent and I each had one unit that never got into combat: Ankaur Maro on my side, and a 9-tray block of Spearmen on his side. It was actually kind of embarrassing having such large parts of our armies completely out of the fight. I'm impressed with your ability to get so many small units into combat despite the unfortunate deployment card.

8 hours ago, Contrapulator said:

Although I gotta say, more beauty than brains - what the heck was that one lancer doing, trying to throw itself into a Dimoran fissure?

Well, they do have the ability to take on the attributes of whatever they devour. Perhaps it was aspiring to become as deadly as the fissure itself.

11 hours ago, Darthain said:

This, tempered steel adds a single hit and exhausts

Is that right? I've been reading that wrong for a long time if so.

11 hours ago, Ywingscum said:

Enjoyable read. A shame about the outcome though. Will the forces of evil ever be stopped!

When we get infantry command and unit expansions elves will be unstoppable!

5 minutes ago, flightmaster101 said:

When we get infantry command and unit expansions elves will be unstoppable!

Oh no, @flightmaster101 has joined the elf brigade.

1 hour ago, Contrapulator said:

Oh no, @flightmaster101 has joined the elf brigade.

Always was, but a corollary to Kari's ability allows me to play Daqan until the Latari are up to speed.

I think this Waiqar list is almost exactly what I want to run at Worlds. Looks nearly unbeatable.

25 minutes ago, JDWoody said:

I think this Waiqar list is almost exactly what I want to run at Worlds. Looks nearly unbeatable.

I'm not sure there is a good choice when it comes to running a hero with a stat line in a unit anymore. They are very easy to snipe out. So the 5 points you spend on Deathcaller could not be spent and then you'll get 1st player every time. But then I guess it depends on your match ups, no Kari or Elves and you should be right.

What does the simultaneous orders in the 3x2 reanimate block do for you?

23 hours ago, Contrapulator said:

...Also, the cavalry here fall for the same trap as mine did in this deployment. By the time they skirt around the flank, the battle is already over...

This happens to me not infrequently with Oathsworn, do you have to face the fact that this deployment is poor for MSU with fast movers? Or set them up on the long edge and cut into the middle once the enemy commits?

1 hour ago, Glucose98 said:

What does the simultaneous orders in the 3x2 reanimate block do for you?

Maybe it's actually a Support Carrion Lancer in that unit?

7 minutes ago, Click5 said:

Maybe it's actually a Support Carrion Lancer in that unit?

Yes it was a support carrion, the cut and paste of the army was from an old one, I'll amend the OP,

22 minutes ago, Wannabe PhD said:

This happens to me not infrequently with Oathsworn, do you have to face the fact that this deployment is poor for MSU with fast movers? Or set them up on the long edge and cut into the middle once the enemy commits?

I've only been using cavalry since the elves dropped, not real confident with them yet.

5 hours ago, JDWoody said:

I think this Waiqar list is almost exactly what I want to run at Worlds. Looks nearly unbeatable.

Unstable Geomancers beg to differ!

10 hours ago, Bhelliom said:

Unstable Geomancers beg to differ!

Maybe. The one time I ran that guy, he never got the runes necessary to do any damage.