Alamo GT 2012 - Round 4: Empire

For the start of Day 2, I played Leadership 2's very own Michael Hengl. Michael is an excellent Warhammer Fantasy player (currently ranked #1 in the United States) whom I have had the pleasure of playing multiple times as we both travel to the same tournaments on the West Coast. Michael also helps run the Quake City Rumble tournament in San Francisco, CA. For this tournament, Michael was playing his brand new Empire army known as the "Witchhunters of Vargheim."

His list for the Alamo was as follows:

Arch Lector ("Luther Von Klug, Captain-General of Sigmar") (204 pts)

• General, Warrior Bane, Enchanted Shield, The White Cloak of Ulric, Van Horstman's Speculum, Heavy Armor

Battle Wizard Lord ("Alchemist Herzog of the Gold Order") (250 pts)

• Level 4, Lore of Metal, Power Stone, Talisman of Endurance

Battle Wizard ("Spiriter Klien of the Amethyst Order") (125 pts)

• Level 2, Lore of Death, Dispel Scroll

Captain of the Empire ("Hugo Adler, Templar of Sigmar") (166 pts)

• Sword of Might, Charmed Shield, The Other Trickster's Shard, Full Plate Armor, Pistol, mounted on an Imperial Pegasus

Captain of the Empire ("Heinrich Badler, Templar of Mor") (128 pts)

• Battle Standard Bearer, Dragonhelm, Dawnstone, Full Plate Armor, Shield

Witch Hunter ("Inquisitor Thresher") (65 pts)

• Tormentor Sword, Potion of Speed, Light Armor, Brace of Pistols

Witch Hunter ("Inquisitor Bauer") (60 pts)

• Potion of Foolhardiness, Light Armor, Brace of Pistols

Witch Hunter ("Inquisitor Frey") (80 pts)

• Ruby Ring of Ruin, Light Armor, Brace of Pistols

Swordsmen ("Vargheim Chapter House of the Templars of Sigmar") (289 pts) (26 models, full command)

• Detachment of Archers (5 models), Detachment of Archers (5 models)

Knights of the Inner Circle ("Templars of Sigmar") (155 pts) (5 models, musician and standard bearer, Banner of Eternal Flame)
Knightly Orders ("Black Guard of Mor") (120 pts) (5 models, musician)
Greatswords ("Templars of Mor") (368 pts) (22 models, full command, Standard of Discipline)

• Detachment of Archers (5 models), Detachment of Archers (5 models)

Flagellants ("Adler's Blackbirds") (168 pts) (14 models)

Great Cannon ("Crew of the River Barge Arnhem") (120 pts)
Celestial Hurricanum ("Wrath of Sigmar") (130 pts)
Archers ("Bounty Hunters") (70 pts) (10 models)

If you can't tell by the fact that each unit and character is named, Michael is a true fan of the hobby in all its aspects. For this tournament he even wrote up a piece of army fluff to place next to his army display. His army is well painted and looks like a true empire army with large blocks of troops, a little artillery, and a little cavalry.

Overall, his army is designed quite well for his play style. It relies on a strong, tactically sound player as the general. To maximize the army, a player has to use the small chaff units properly, choose his magic spells wisely, and prioritize each and every target. If the player utilizes this army properly it can devastating without seeming over the top (thereby getting good composition scores). But it is a list that does require constant attention throughout the game, as a mistake can be costly.

The main advantage of this army is its great synergy between the units and character selection. For example, the Great Sword unit (with characters) is Stubborn on Leadership 10, with a re-roll, and gets to roll 3d6 for those break tests. Ouch! And Michael focuses on this synergy by bringing 8 characters (yes, 8). And that vast majority of them are extremely cheap for what they bring to the Empire army. This list is one of the better Empire lists in terms of maximizing character synergy that I have seen at tournaments and if it wasn't for the fact that not every person could just pick it up and start winning, I would expect it to become more popular. Based on his list, at the end of the tournament, I ended up giving Michael my Fluff Bunny vote for fluffiest army I played all weekend.

For this game, Michael and I would be playing Scenario 4. In this scenario, each army gets a magical cannon that is deployed as a normal war machine. This meant that Michael would have two cannons for this game! The cannon is a normal cannon except that it does not have a crew. The player whose cannon is still alive at the end of the game gets the bonus points.

We rolled for spells and my Level 4 Spellweaver with the Lore of Beasts once again got Flock of Doom, Amber Spear, Curse of Anraheir, and Savage Beast of Horrors. Michael's Level 4 mage with the Lore of Metal got Searing Doom, Enchanted Blades, Glittering Scales, and Final Transmutation. His Level 2 with the Lore of Death got Spirit Leech and The Caress of Lanipth.

We placed terrain with a tower in the middle of the table 6" towards the left flank. Hills were placed in opposite corners, and several copse of trees were spread out over the entire board. Looking at Michael's list and the scenario bonus points, my targets for this game were:

1. Kill the Knights of the Inner Circle.
2. Kill the other Knights.
3. Kill the magical cannon.
4. Kill the normal cannon.
5. Stay away from the combat blocks.
6. Kill the detachments for easy victory points.

Deployment:

Michael (this guy) deployed his army in a castling formation protecting his magical cannon (and the four bonus points it represented).

In the center of the board he deployed a detachment of archers and next to them, his Celestial Hurricanum. His large unit of Greatswords were deployed behind the large copse of trees along with a Witchhunter, the Level 4, the Level 2, his BSB, and his Arch Lector making this one tough unit.

In front of that unit he deployed the large archer unit directly in the trees and then the other archer detachment behind them. To the right of the trees he deployed his Swordsmen (containing another Witchhunter) with both archer detachments in the front and slightly to the side (but within 3"). In the right most archer detachment he deployed the Witchhunter with the Ruby Ring of Ruin. In front of the Swordsmen he placed the normal knight unit.

In his back right corner he placed both his normal and magical cannon. To protect these war machines he deployed his Flagellants in a single rank so that none of my flying units could make base contact with the cannons. Finally, on the right edge of the table he deployed his Inner Circle Knights and the Pegasus hero.

For my deployment I decided on a split forces approach.

On my extreme left flank I placed my own magical cannon more than maximum range away from his own cannons and behind the hill. Also beyond  the maximum range of the empire artillery I placed the Eagle Noble (after losing him on the first turn last game I wanted to make sure he got to fire his Hail of Doom Arrow). I then deployed the Warhawk Riders in front of the cannon so they could fly towards Michael's lines.

Three Glade Rider units were also placed on the left flank (this picture was taken after Vanguard moves) with both the Level 4 mage and the BSB on this side of the board away from the archer detachments and Empire artillery. Finally, the altered Highborn deployed behind the hill so that he could pop out and shoot at any knight units that ventured from the Empire lines.

On my right flank I deployed one unit of Glade Riders (this unit was placed early in deployment when I didn't know where Michael's units were deploying). The Wild Riders deployed in the forest and used their Vanguard move to inch closer to the Empire lines (shown). Finally, both Eagles were deployed on the extreme right flank (more than 6" away from one another) to try and see if they could open up the flank and distort Michael's battle line.

After deployment, both Inquisitor Thresher and Inquisitor Bauer (the two Witchhunters without the Ruby Ring of Ruin) accused the Eagle Noble of heresy to the Empire of Man. Inquisitor Frey (deployed in the archer detachment), perhaps being a slightly more intelligent Witch Hunter, accused my altered Highborn of devious Fey witchcraft which I am sure he has more or less committed at some point. I was worried about this Witchhunter (probably more than I should have been) because the altered Highborn is such a big part of my battle plans against armies with knights and I didn't want him to be killed by a lucky 6 from the Witchhunter's bound Fireball. Long range Killing Blow is a really nasty ability. 

We then rolled off and the Empire got the first turn. This would be another game where going first would mostly likely have changed the outcome of the game by allowing me to capitalize on my game plan much earlier. But alas, the turn dice were not with me this tournament.

Turn 1:
Michael's first movement phase took a little while (as did mine, and so would all of our movement phases for this game as we really thought out our lines of sight and distance calculations). And Michael had to be careful with his battleline and move certain units first, or he would block his other units from moving.

As you can see from the picture, Michael closed most of the doors in his battleline as some units moved back and others expanded. The four detachments of archers all shifted around to block charge lanes and protect key units.

On his left flank the Celestial Hurricanum backed up further into the Empire deployment zone while on the right flank both knight units advanced slowly. Because he deployed so close together though, neither large infantry unit could move much this turn and they were effectively stuck in place.

Michael also made a bold move by flying his Pegasus hero between the two Eagles (and out of their lines of sight) so that he could start harassing my units the following turn.

In his first magic phase of the game Michael picked up two dice and before he could roll I yelled out "Snake Eyes!" He then promptly rolled the double 1s! After cursing the dice gods and both of us having a good laugh he cast Glittering Scales on the center archer detachment to give them a 5+ armor save against my shooting.

Michael's first shooting phase went as well as his first magic phase. The magical cannon shot at the brown eagle. The cannon hit the eagle dead on, but failed to wound as Michael rolled a 1. Then his other cannon shot at the same eagle. The cannon hit the eagle, but again Michael rolled a 1 and failed to wound. Two cannon balls later and the eagle was still flying!

In my Turn 1, I carefully moved my units to try and focus on opening holes in the Empire battleline. Both eagles passed their march tests to fly into Michaels' deployment zone. One eagle landed in front of the Inner Circle knights to try and force a charge. The other eagle landed outside of the knight's line of sight and within charge range of the archer detachment and witchhunter with the Ruby Ring.

The Wild Riders moved out of the forest and towards the Empire lines, looking to charge several units the following turn. The Glade Rider unit in the center of the board moved up to support the Wild Riders while the Glade Riders on the left flank all moved forward to start shooting at the Empire battleline. Finally, the Eagle Noble flew behind the hill and tower so that he was out of the cannons' lines of sight.

In the magic phase the Level 4 cast curse on the normal knight unit, but failed to cast Flock of Doom at the Celestial Hurricanum.

Turn 1 Wood Elf shooting was relatively disappointing. The magical cannon fired at, and hit, the Pegasus hero in my deployment zone. But his Charmed Shield protected the hero from harm. The remainder of the Wood Elf shooting only managed to kill the archer detachment on the left of the Empire lines, and drop a few models from the center detachment with Glittering Scales.

Turn 2:
Michael's turn 2 began with the Inner Circle Knights charging the eagle in front of them on the hill. The Eagle fled, but do to a significantly poor flee roll, was caught by the knights. However, the Inner Circle Knights were now left exposed on the hill.

The rest of the Empire movement involved small manoeuvres. The Greatswords moved around the trees to get within 24" of my BSB. The Celestail Hurricanum moved behind the Greatsword unit. The large archer unit moved a little but stayed within the large copse of trees to see the Wild Riders. The cursed knights shifted slightly to face the Wild Riders, but stayed behind the hill to protect themselves from the altered Highborn. Finally, the Pegasus hero, now deprived of his Charmed Shield, flew back behind the hill and out of sight.

In the Empire magic phase, another low roll left Michael with few options. His Level 2 attempted to cast the Caress of Lanipth on my BSB, but his attempt was quickly dispelled by the Spellweaver. Sensing an opportunity, the Battle Wizard Lord cast Final Transmutation on the BSB's unit, but the Spellweaver read his Dispel Scroll to negate the spell's deadly effects.

Empire shooting for turn 2 was rather limited. The large archer unit, and the center archer detachment shot at the Wild Riders, killing two. Meanwhile the only target the cannons could see was the remaining eagle that was threatening the Witchhunter in the detachment. The Empire cannon fired and killed the eagle, clearing the right flank, and saving the magical cannon from risking a misfire.

Wood Elf Turn 2 began with a series of charges.

The Glade Riders charged the Inner Circle Knights on the hill. Michael opted to flee as holding would have allowed my Wild Riders to then charge the unit in the flanks and in a flee direction that would have likely taken the unit off the board.

The Wild Riders (who could no longer see the Inner Circle knights) declared a charge into the center archer detachment who fled through the Swordsmen. The Wild Riders then redirected into the large unit of archers who then fled behind the trees.

As you can see, the flee direction of the Inner Circle Knights caused them to flee through both the Pegasus hero and the archer detachment with the Witchhunter. Unfortunately for me, both units passed their panic check.

The rest of the army advanced on the Empire lines. Two Glade Rider units on the left flank pressed forward threatening Michael's flanks. The Warhawk Riders also flew forward to attempt to fly behind the Empire lines next turn.

The Eagle Noble moved around the hill (but behind the tower) to see the Greatsword unit and the Celestial Hurricanum. The BSB left his unit before it moved and marched behind the hill to join one of the Glade Rider units on the right flank next turn.

The altered Highborn moved from behind the hill to start threatening any movement by the knights while staying out of the cannons' lines of sight. Finally, the mage's Glade Rider unit moved to the right flank.

In the magic phase, the Spellweaver was able to curse the normal knight unit once again, but all other spell attempts failed or were dispelled.

In the shooting phase, the magical cannon aimed at the Greatswords, obershot and hit the Celestial Hurricanum. The cannon then put 4 wounds on the chariot! Seeing an opportunity the Eagle Noble fired his Hail of Doom Arrow at the Celestrial Hurricanum, but I failed to wound. The rest of the army shot at various Empire units, but failed to do more than kill a few Greatswords and a couple of archers.

Turn 3:

At the start of turn 3, Michael started to act more agressively with his army. I suspect he was afraid that I was going to be able to sit back and nickel and dime my way to 100+ victory points. (He can tell us what he was thinking in the comments section). As such, this was the first turn he began a concerted effort to move closer to my units. Both the Swordsmen and the Greatswords moved forward while the large archer unit and archer detachment successfully rallied.

Michael's magic phase saw the Level 4 successfully cast Glittering Scales on the Greatswords unit. The Witchhunter tried to shot a fireball at the Highborn from the Ruby Ring, but the attempt was dispelled. I was not taking a chance with the Killing Blow.

In the shooting phase, the magical cannon shot at, and killed, a Wild Rider, but the Empire cannon misfired and would not be shooting next turn.

Wood Elf Turn 3 started with a combined charge. 

On the left flank, the northernmost Glade Riders declared a charge against the archer detachment protecting the Celestial Hurricanum. The unit fled and I chose to pursue the unit, but rolled poorly, and failed the charge.

From the center, the Wild Riders charged the Greatswords in the front and the Warhawk Riders on the left flank charged the unit in the flank. The Greatswords held, and both units made the charge.



On the right flank, the two Glade Rider units moved into position to see the archer detachment with the Witchunter while the Highborn stayed out of the cannons' lines of sight but moved closer to the Empire battle line to get within range of the Celestial Hurricanum. Finally, the last Glade Rider unit moved up next to the other unit that failed its charge.

In the magic phase the Spellweaver attempted to cast Wyssan's Wildform on the Wild Riders, but was dispelled. The Spellweaver then failed to cast Curse of Anraheir on the Greatswords.

In the shooting phase the Glade Riders on the left flank who didn't charge shot at, but failed to wound the Celestial Hurricanum. The altered Highborn then also shot at, and destroyed, the chariot. On the right flank, the two Glade Rider units shot at and killed all of the archers in the detachment, but failed to kill the Witchhunter himself (lucky git!).

In combat, the Wood Elf units struck first. Because of how many characters Michael had in the unit, his front rank was composed of the unit command, the Level 2, the BSB, the Arch Lector, and a Witchhunter, but not the Level 4. The Warhawk Riders struck at initiative 5 and killed the Witchhunter that was in the corner of the unit as well as a couple of Greatswords.

The Wild Riders also struck at initiative 5, killed the Level 2, and several Greatswords. At this time I thought that the Level 4 would then be forced to the front rank of the unit as characters must be placed in the front rank unless there is no room (see pg. 97 of the Warhammer Rulebook). Michael countered that the character is like a command model which only moves to the front of the unit if the unit reforms (see pg. 92 of the Warhammer Rulebook). Because we were in combat, Michael argued that the mage would not move to the front of the unit until the combat was over, or the unit chose to combat reform. I argued that characters were different (as the had their own special rules) and would move automatically when a spot in the front rank became available. Not wanting to take away too much game time (and both of us having a great game up to that point) we rolled off and Michael won so the Level 4 stayed in the second rank.

Reader Comments: I would really like all of your opinions on this issue as I desire a proper rules interpretation for the next time this arises. Had I known it would have played out this way, and the Level 4 would not have moved forward to be attacked by my horses at their initiative, as well as the remaining Wild Riders the next combat phase, I would not have charged with either unit and saved myself all of those points. The whole point of the charge was to deprive Michael of all of his magic for the rest of the game.

The Greatswords then struck back, killing one Warhawk Rider and all but 2 of the Wild Riders. The Warhawks flew away from combat do to their hit-and-run rule as there was no need for them to stay in the combat.

The Wood Elves had managed to win the combat, but the Greatswords passed their re-rollable leadership 10 Stubborn test  on 3d6. Michael then chose to not reform the Greatswords so the Level 4 stayed in the second rank.








Turn 4:

Michael, seeing the center of the board open, continued moving his army forwards. Both the normal knight and the Inner Circle Knights marched over the hill to threaten the Glade Riders on the right flank. The Swordsmen moved forward and out of the Empire deployment zone. The archer detachment that had fled from the Glade Riders rallied and the Pegasus knight flew further into the Empire deployment zone to protect the cannons from the Glade Riders on the left flank.

In the magic phase the Level 4 successfully cast both Enchanted Blades and Glittering Scales on the Greatswords. Can someone say overkill!!! 

Michael's shooting phase was relatively ineffective. Neither the Empire cannon, nor the one remaining archer detachment could shoot this turn. Only the magical cannon had a target in range and fired at the Warhawk Riders killing another Warhawk.

In the combat, the Wild Riders killed a single Greatsword. In return, the Greatswords destroyed the two remaining Wild Riders and reformed to face the units on the right flank.

In my Turn 4 I focused everything I could on breaking through the Empire lines and trying to salvage the damage I had just inflicted on myself with loosing the Wild Riders. (I had just given up 303 victory points for only 190 points in return). The last Warhawk Rider rallied and moved towards the Empire artillery. The two Glade Rider units on the left flank marched behind Michael's lines and towards the Flagellants, completely ignoring the recently rallied archer detachment (this would turn out to be a big mistake!).

On the right flank, the altered Highborn moved to see the Inner Circle Knights while one unit of Glade Riders foolishly marched into the corner of the board (I seem to keep moving my units into the corners instead of out in the open where they would have better flee options).

Stupid Mistake #1: Moving the Glade Rider unit into the corner completely locked the unit's movement and placed them in a position where the Inner Circle Knights could see and charge them without the Glade Riders from being able to flee. I know when I made this move I was relying on the Highborn killing the knights, and thought they would no longer be a threat. However, as a Wood Elf player I have to remembering that the worst is likely to happen so I need options.

The BSB jumped into the mage's unit who were out of the normal knight unit's line of sight.  

In the magic phase the Spellweaver finally made his presence known. He successfully cast curse on the Inner Circle Knights but it was dispelled. He then successfully cast Savage Beast of Horrors on the the altered Highborn which was also dispelled. Finally, he cast a boosted Amber Spear into the flank of the normal knight unit killing all five models. Woot! Woot! With one dice left he then tried to cast the Flock of Doom at the lone Witchhunter with the Ruby Ring, but failed to meet the 7+ casting value.

In the shooting phase the altered Highborn only managed to kill a single Inner Circle Knight. Drat! In the northern part of the board, one unit of Glade Riders failed to wound a single archer in the last detachment while the other unit managed to kill a single Flagellant. On the right flank, the remaining Glade Riders either failed to hit, or failed to wound the lone Witchhunter. (He is just invincible!)

Turn 5:

Michael started his turn by charging the Inner Circle Knights into the Glade Riders that foolishly locked themselves in the corner of the board. I stood and shot but failed to kill any of the knights. Of course, as had happened all tournament, the knights successfully made the charge! (To be fair, Michael only needed an 8 or a 9)





It was at this point that I pretty much determined I was not playing this army properly. For future tournaments I must remember to stay outside the maximum charge range of my opponent's units because they will always make that charge!

In the north, Michael charged the archer detachment into the flank of the furthest Glade Rider unit. As I was on the board edge I had to take the charge.

Beware blurry picture.

In his magic phase the Level 4 successfully cast Glittering Scales on the archer detachment, but the Witchhunter's fireball targeting the Highborn was dispelled.

In the shooting phase the Empire cannons targeted the last Warhawk Rider and shot him out of the sky!

In the southern combat, the Inner Circle Knights whiffed significantly and managed to kill only 3 of the Glade Riders. Although I lost the combat, the Glade Riders were Steadfast as the knights only had 4 models and passed passed break test.

In the northern combat the elves struck first and killed two of the archers even with being protected by the Glittering Scales. Unfortunately, the archers held their ground and would prevent the Glade Riders from moving on the next turn.

Stupid Mistake #2: I did not reform the Glade Riders in the North! Rather than reform to maximize the number of attacks I would get and negate the archer's flank bonus, I stayed facing the same direction.

In my Turn 5 the other Glade Rider unit in the North charged the archer detachment in its flank.

Stupid Mistake #3: I should not have charged this Glade Rider unit. I charged because I forgot to reform and I wanted to kill the detachment and get the points. Charging didn't really add that much to the combat as I still had a banner and four attacks against three archers. However, it did prevent this unit from shooting at the Flagellants, or the Pegasus hero, or the magical cannon, etc. I think I was hoping for an overrun to make up for the fact that the one Glade Rider unit was prevented from moving, but there is really no justification for this charge that I can now see.

The Eagle Noble, recognizing that his contribution to this game was over, flew into the corner of the board where he would remain for the rest of the game. The rest of my movement tried to take advantage of the open right flank. The Glade Riders with the mage and BSB moved to see the lone Witchhunter, but stayed at long range to be within 12" of the Glade Rider combat in the south. The altered Highborn stayed behind the hill, and turned to face the Greatswords.

In the Wood Elf magic phase, the Spellweaver successfully cast the curse on the Inner Circle Knights. Also, a high roll on a successful Flock of Doom saw the lone Witchhunter die (finally). An attempt to cast Savage Beast of Horrors on the Highborn was dispelled.

In the shooting phase the mage's unit couldn't shoot as they were just out of range of both the Flagellants and the magical cannon. The altered Highborn shot at and killed a couple of Greatswords (because he could) but at this point in the game the unit was still over half and there was no chance of killing the entire unit. 

In the northern combat the elves killed 2 more archers and then the lone remaining archer fled. Both units declared a pursuit of the lone archer. As I had just charged with a fresh unit that still had all its models the direction of the flee was directly away. The charging Glade Riders ran forward 8", but the Glade Riders that had been charged pursued 12" and ran the lone archer down but placed themselves within the charge range and line of sight of both the Flagellants and the Pegasus hero.

Stupid Mistake #3: I should not have pursued this unit. As there was only a single archer left, it could only rally on double 1s. Further, I had a whole additional turn to shoot at the archer if I needed the detachment's victory points. Assuming I needed to guarantee this archer's death, I should have only pursued with the charging unit because it was roughly 4" further back from the other Glade Rider unit. Instead, I pursued with both units, rolled really high with one unit and allowed that unit to be in a place where it could get charged without being able to flee.  

In the southern combat the Inner Circle Knights killed another Glade Rider. The Glade Riders then passed its Steadfast break test again to stay in combat.

Turn 6: 

On Michael's turn 6 he charged both the Flagellants and the Pegasus hero into the Glade Rider unit that had run too far forward. The unit stood and shot at the Flagellants killing a few before they made contact. I could not flee because I would have ran off the table and I was hoping that at least one of the two units (particularly the Pegasus hero) would fail their charge. They did not.

Nothing exceptional happened in either the Empire magic or shooting phase.

In the northern combat the Glade Riders were completely wiped out by the Pegasus hero and the Flagellants. The Pegasus hero then overran off the board to protect itself from the altered Highborn. The Flagellants also overran towards the other Glade Rider unit but failed to make contact (I was 13" away, thankfully).

In the southern combat, the Inner Circle Knights could only manage to kill another Glade Rider leaving me with 5 models and a full rank. The unit was still Steadfast and passed its leadership test to stay for the final turn.

In my Turn 6, seeing that I had pretty much given up the game in the last turn, I focused all of my energy on killing the magical cannon. The mage left the Glade Rider unit to move within 24" of the magical cannon. The BSB then left the unit to stay within 12" of the southern combat in case I needed the re-roll. This left the Glade Rider unit to march towards the Empire deployment zone to see the cannons. The altered Highborn climbed the hill to see the cannons while the other Glade Rider unit in the north moved to within an inch of the Flagellants to see the cannons behind them.

For the last magic phase of the game the Spellweaver decided to go out with a bang. The mage started the phase by attempting to cast a boosted Amber Spear at the magical cannon but was dispelled. The mage then cast a Flock of Doom with Irresistible Force at the magical cannon. The cannon was destroyed with a lucky roll of several sixes, but in the process, the mage was sucked into the warp!

In the shooting phase, all of the elves able to see the Empire cannon fired at it, but failed to bring it down as a single crewman survived the game.

In the southern combat the Inner Circle Knights killed a Glade Rider and won the combat, but the Glade Riders passed their break test and stayed alive! Yay! Thus ended Round 4!

We calculated victory points and determined that I had managed to kill 730 victory points worth of Empire units(Witchhunter with Ruby Ring, all archer detachments, the large archer unit, the Celestial Hurricanum, the normal knights, Witchhunter with Tormentor Sword, and the Level 2). In turn, Michael killed 1223 points of Wood Elves (Level 4, Wild Riders, Warhawk Riders, Glade Riders, both Eagles). Michael had won the game, but by just under 500 points. Before the mage ran off and killed himself the game was a draw with a 60 point difference!

I ended up getting 10 battle points for this round (4 for the loss, 4 for the bonus objective, and 2 for the sneaky git rule). After looking at the score, Michael and I realized that I got more battle points for losing the game but getting the cannon (by being aggressive with the mage) then I would have received if I played more conservatively on Turn 6 and kept the draw.

Thinking back on the game as I write this, tt is clear to me that I simply played far to aggressive. I had range on everything in Michael's army and could have (and should have) sat back and whittled away key targets, forcing Michael to come to me. Instead I got so focused on (1) not playing like a jackass against a friend of mine who I play regularly at tournaments, and (2) wanting those objective points for killing that magical cannon, that I forget to keep playing smart. Had this round been against a different player, and had I played much better on Day 1 so I was still in the running for Best General, I would like to think that I would have played differently and just picked apart a few units and then focused on breaking the right flank to get at the cannon. Or, at the very least, I now recognize that this is how I should play next time when similar situations arise.