The third turn started out with me realizing I had forgotten to move the Wolf Riders the previous turn, after the Big Boss had charged out. It wasn't an extreme blunder, but I had wanted to move them into the middle, between the fighting blocks to help redirect counter charges. I was also quite tired of the Big Boss failing his fear test - despite the Warboss flying nearby - so I quaffed the Potion of Foolhardiness to give me an additional attack.
After that, the White Lions charged into the Night Goblins. This was, of course, what I wanted and figured the gobbos would hold on for 2, possibly three turns. By then, I should be done with both Spearmen units and be prepared to deal with final combat unit of the elves. What surprised me slightly was the fact that he moved his remaining Eagle (E2) away to stand in the way of the Wolf Chariots, rather than redirecting the Trolls from the flank of the White Lions.
The Metal Mage marched out of his Spearmen unit (S2) through the forest that had suddenly appeared around him. It was quite obvious he wanted to take down my Wyvern with the Searing Doom spell. A good decision, I thought, since without the Wyvern I'd actually struggle to take on the White Lions once they were clear of the gobbos. The Spearmen then marched around the Black Orcs to threaten the flank of my remaining mobs from far away.
The Winds of Magic were unkind to Johan this time around, granting him only four dice and three to me. Without the Banner of Sorcery on the now defeated Swordmasters, he wasn't able to get through the Searing Doom spell, especially with me being level 4 and the Mage only level 1.
Moving on the shooting, the eastern Bolt Thrower took aim for the Wyvern and hit the beast in the belly. Sadly for Johan, he failed to wound it. To the west, the second Bolt Thrower shot several bolts into the Black Orcs. I wasn't quite sure why he'd do that, since they were immune to panic anyway which he was quite aware of. Personally, I would have fired at the Mangler Squig. Instead, only the Archers (A1) took aim for the squig beast and were able to hurt it for a wound.
In combat, the White Lions killed off 12 Night Goblins and lost only 2 in return, killing off my Gobbo Shaman while at it. With few, very high strength attacks however, he wasn't able to break them and they remained steadfast. Nearby, the Spearelves (S1) and the Noble took down 6 Savage Orcs, leaving only the command group and their Shaman still standing. With the 'Ere We Go spell still active, they took out 7 elves in return and with two ranks remaining, the combat was a draw. Far out on the eastern flank, the Gobbo Big Boss took out two elves without taking a wound in return, winning combat but the six remaining elves passed their breaktest.
In my turn, I thought a little while on where I wanted my Wyvern to go. I could easily charge into the Spearmen marching up from the west (S2) and take them out in a few rounds while my Black Orcs moved around. However, my Savage Orcs and the Great Shaman were likely going down this turn, with only 3 standing and their Noble still alive and killing them. That would mean I lose my wizard while the only way for me to kill off his own Wizard (and General to boot) was to break him in combat. So really, it was a simple decision to make - The Warboss charged into the rear of the Spearelves to help out the Savage Orcs! After that, the Trolls charged into the flank of the White Lions fighting my Night Goblins, confident that they would turn the battle even though the gobbos were dying in bunches. The Wolf Chariot, of course, charged into the Eagle blocking its path and the Black Orcs charged into the Bolt Thrower that shot them earlier.
The Mangler Squig (MS) bounced into the Archers and killed off 6 of them, leaving only 3 standing but able to pass their panic test. Meanwhile, the Arrer Boyz (AB) moved to hide behind the building and the Wolf Riders rode around theirs to threaten the Bolt Thrower there. That was probably a mistake on my part, since it really hadn't got anything better to shoot at and would quite easily kill off plenty of the goblins.
Winds of Magic offered a few good things for the Orcs, with the Great Shaman trying to 'Eadbutt the Mage in the forest that ended up being dispelled by a scroll. Another round of 'Ere We Go followed that, but Johan outrolled me with his Archmage.
The Doom Diver crew were sorting out the rope tangle while the Wolf Riders took aim for the Bolt Thrower without hurting anything.
In combat we saw 11 more gobbos die to the White Lions, leaving only ten Night Goblins standing. The Trolls, on the other hand, took only a couple of wounds and stomped down 15 White Lions, but with the BSB in the unit they held on, Stubborn until the end. The Wolf Boss took out another elf and survived their attacks in return, resulting in another tie. I was a bit disappointed in him not being able more than a single elf in time. Still, he was a lot cheaper than a unit of Archers and so I was quite happy with them tied up like they were. The Wolf Chariots (WC), of course, destroyed the Eagle with their impact hits and the Black Orcs (BO) wiped out the Bolt Thrower.
Finally, the Spearmen in the middle of the field killed off the remaining three Savage Orcs. With the Wyvern charging in though, the Archmage cried out a challenge. I accepted with the Great Shaman, but really I should have done that with the Boss (champion) instead. Since the Archmage wouldn't be able to kill him, that would have meant my Savage Orcs would have survived with the champion still standing. You live and you learn. The Warboss and his Wyvern, naturally, destroyed the unit and left the Archmage and Noble standing, who broke and fled north, away from the Shaman. The Wyvern chased them down easily while the Shaman ran into the forest.
Going into the fourth turn for the High Elves, things were looking quite grim for Johan. His White Lions were losing quickly against the flanking Trolls, his General had been chased down and his remaining Spearmen (S2) needed to run 15" in order to hit the rear of the Trolls. Having no better option really, he went for it, and the dice showed a 10 - enough to get him into battle! He followed that up though with a slight mistake by not moving his Mage out of the charge path of the Savage Orc Shaman, I guess he didn't think I'd charge, or he just didn't see me.
Winds of Magic gave him plenty of dice, but I had six dice of my own to dispel his Searing Doom aimed at my Wyvern, which I did, quite easily with a stronger wizard alive.
Shooting wise, the remaining Bolt Thrower shot at the Wolf Riders, hoping to take them out before they got to charge. It was a decent choice, but I think I would have gone for the big price and shot at the Great Shaman or the Wyvern one last time before the Wolves charged me. He took out 4, leaving a single one standing, but the large Inspiring Presence of the Warboss prevented the lone gobbo from riding away to hide.
Another standstill was had between the Wolf Boss and the Archers, with another elf falling to his blows, leaving only 3 of them still standing. In battle between the White Lions, Gobbos, Trolls and now Spearmen too, the remaining ten gobbos were wiped out by the Woodman's Axes, while four wounds were inflicted upon the Trolls, killing off two of them. The clubbing blows and stomps in return killed off 10 Spearmen and 4 White Lions, leaving 10 and 7 remaining, but the static combat resolution of the long distance charge to the rear of the Trolls had them losing by a handful. With the BSB out of range for the re-roll, they failed their breaktest and were chased down by the elves. That was a bitter loss, that 15" charge of the Spearelves really turning a combat I thought I had locked in into me losing 400 points and leaving 7 White Lions still standing. The death of the Trolls was gruesome enough to send the Wolf Chariots fleeing as well, which further tampened my excitement. I didn't fear the 10 Spears, but the Lions would be a tough nut to crack with really only 9 Black Orcs and a Wyvern able to still fight.
In my own turn, the remaining Wolf Rider charged the Bolt Thrower, in lack of better things to do. I thought that he'd probably die from the two elven attacks striking ahead of him, but it was worth a gamble since the war machines was a so much more expensive. The Great Shaman roared and charged the Mage, wanting to smash him like he couldn't do with his magical 'eadbutt. The Black Orcs marched south towards the remaining elves while the Wyvern flew ahead and landed close to the Wolf Chariots to help them rally. The Mangler Squig went crazy and hopped north away from everything.
In the magic phase, my Great Shaman tried to implore Gork's Hand to bring the Black Orcs closer to their foes, but Johan knew that was my key spell this late and managed to dispel it with all of his dice.
With the threat of the 7 White Lions still worrying me slightly, the Doom Diver then finally got its act together and shot a Goblin straight into the crowed. 6 hits resulted in 6 wounds, and suddenly only a single White Lion was standing, its banner intact, alongside the BSB. That certainly made me feel better.
That was until my Wolf Boss perished from the stabs of the three remaining elven Archers, who brought him and his wolf down and survived their long battle. I was not pleased, with neither of the Archer units dead and none of my mobs up for killing. Finally, we fought the battle between the Bolt Thrower crew and the remaining Wolf Rider, with both sides missing all of their attacks and the Bolt Thrower losing by one from the charge bonus. The resulting break test was failed, and the sole gobbo had managed to destroy a warmachine worth double his price! When things like this happens, it's good to be green! To top things off, the Great Shaman slaughtered the weak elven Mage in battle and went howling through the forest afterwards.
