Nymm, 997YK — the forces of the Sulatar descend from Searing Heights to drive back the approaching army of the Storm Lords.
Impetus Fantasy 300pts-ish battle report.
Introduction
I am trying out different fantasy wargaming systems as I play this campaign. For this battle, I used Impetus with the add-on fantasy rules. I played with 300 Impetus points = 1500 ME points, so the armies would be suitably sized. So given the set up from the campaign (see previous posts on this blog), the Storm Lords got 300pts and the Sulatar 340pts.
There will be no pictures with this battle report I'm afraid, as I do not have any minis yet — I have some on order though. I fought it out at half-scale with tokens instead. The battle report will have maps instead.
The Storm Lords' forces are in confident mood. With a force of over 3,000 fighting persons, swelled further by camp followers, they are making the first push in strength into Sulatar territory. The core of their army is around 1,500 of the Stormreach guards. These are professional soldiers, employed by the Storm Lords to keep order in the city and guard it against hostile forces in Xen'Drik. The guard is a little less diverse than the city, with about 70% humans (and a fairly equal balance of men and women), with the remainder being a mix of all the civilised races of Eberron: elves, dwarves, halflings, half-orcs, and a few gnomes. They are commanded by Commander Markus, an elf who has served as a guard captain for many years and previously had command of the defence of the city wall; he acts as overall commander for the army.
- 2xCL with crossbows — Light Patrol Cavalry
- 3xT crossbows — Crossbow-armed guardsmen
- 1xFP — Heavy infantry guards
- 1xFL — Light infantry with pikes
- 2xS — Scouts
However the guards have little field battle experience, being mostly used as patrols and to maintain order in the city — and to be the biggest private army in a city rife with criminal gangs, trade groups, and religious orders that all come with their own security and enforcers. With the guard came another 1,200 levies — rabble pulled from the taverns and jails of Stormreach, and refugees from the war in Khorvaire looking for some coin.
- 4xFP class C — Heavy infantry levies
The army's biggest asset is the contingent of 600 mercenaries from House Deneith — veterans of many battles in the Last War in Khorvaire. The bulk of these are heavy cavalry, but there are also crossbowmen and ballistae. Deneith provides the best mercenaries in Eberron, and is scrupulous in upholding its contracts. The Deneith contingent has its own commander, Taggart d'Deneith, a veteran who has led in dozens of battles on at least three different continents.
- 2xCP — Deneith Heavy Cavalry
- 1xT — Deneith crossbowmen
- 1xArtB — Deneith ballistae
The Sulatar are outnumbered, with only 2,100 fighters in the field — although if the Stormreach levies are discounted then the armies are around the same size. They have a strong martial tradition, so there are few camp followers: almost everyone present is an able warrior. The core of the army is around 1,500 spears and archers, warriors experienced in the harsh tribal warfare common in Xen'Drik.
Supporting the infantry are around 300 light troops: horse archers, skirmishing archers and hunters. There are also around 200 mounted nobles, armoured warriors skilled with bow and sword. Their most unpredictable asset, however, is Hazai Haatha, the tribe's strongest Archconjurer, who can bind the power of Fernia (the plane of elemental fire) to his will. In command is Shurraena Orlyrae, a capable commander; she has the advantage that her army is composed of drow used to fighting together, unlike the Storm Lords' patchwork army.
- 1xCM with bows — Noble horsemen
- 1xCL with bows — Horse archers
- 3xFP with pikes — Elven spearmen
- 1xFL, knowledge of terrain, rush — Hunters
- 3xT, eagle-eyes with longbows — Elven Archers
- 1xS, longbows — Scouts
- 1xCH wizard, with summon unit (fire mephits) and fireball — Hazai Haatha
The Battle
Deployment, turns 1-3
The Storm Lord's army is encamped in the plains north of the village of Firebranch. The area is mostly fields with some ploughed farmland, except on the north side where there is a hill and some woods. The Storm Lords therefore put their heavy cavalry and the rest of the Deneith contingent on the south side, to exploit the more open terrain. The Stormreach guards with crossbows are all in the centre opposite some ploughed land that is bad terrain for heavy infantry, and some of the levies are deployed to support them in case the drow mount a frontal assault. On the left is the main block of infantry, with the other half of the levies, the light infantry, scouts, and the one unit of close-combat guardsmen.
The drow see the rough ploughed ground as a big asset for them, and deploy their elite archers as the centre of their line behind this terrain (which will keep the enemy cavalry and heavy infantry away). At either end of this line are the elven pikemen. On the south side, their left, they have their light cavalry and hunters, the latter aiming to get into the woods on this side to disrupt an expected flanking move on this side. The noble cavalry are on the north side.
After 3 turns, the Storm Lords' forces are advancing on the flanks but holding back in the centre. The Sulatar have got their hunters into the wood though, which has tied up the possible flanking move on that side — the Deneith crossbowmen and some scouts are being sent in to try to clear the wood. Aware that going around the woods will take too long,
Taggart d'Deneith is keeping his men north of the wood and hoping his infantry can keep his own flank clear.
Turns 4 & 5
Having taken up position behind the ploughed field, the Sulatar archers start raining arrows down on their enemies. This immediately brings disruption to the human troops approaching on both flanks, slowing their advance and routing the scouts on the north side. The Storm Lords realise their mistake now: their centre is too far back to provide support, and the levies there may not get into the action at all. Meanwhile, their scouts entered the south wood and were immediately charged by a rush of drow hunters — skilled warriors in the often dense undergrowth more common in central Xen'Drik. Meanwhile, Hazai Haatha manages to open a portal to Fernia and pulls through several fire elementals and a swarm of fire mephits, which he and his acolytes now control.
Commander Markus reacts by ordering up his levies from the centre to march south-east to support the cavalry attack. They are immediately a target for drow archers though, and the poorly disciplined troops are disrupted easily and now block his crossbowmen from getting into the fight. Their more experienced light infantry on the left managed to steal a charge on the drow cavalry trying to outflank the infantry attack in the north, driving them back into the woods on that side in confusion.
Turn 6
The Sulatar see an opportunity while the human army tries to redeploy, and a unit of spears breaks off from the main line and charges the Deneith crossbowmen on their left, dispersing them easily. Their horse archers, which have circled the wood to come at the Deneith troops from the flank, manage to inflict some losses on the heavy cavalry. Meanwhile the archers continue to keep the enemy centre and left disorganized.
The Storm Lords are making progress though. Both units of heavy cavalry counter-charge the now isolated unit of elven spears, causing losses and trapping it well ahead of its own lines. And a unit of mounted guards with crossbows, moving to support the cavalry advance, take up position and fire into the flank of the drow horse archers, routing them from the field.
Turn 7
The Storm Lords are slowly disentangling their centre, with the levies moving off to the south to support the cavalry and some of the crossbowmen now able to advance towards the drow centre. On the south side, all the units fighting are tied up by the drow and making no progress.
They manage to rally their light infantry in the north, but the drow wizards have been moving towards this flank and a fireball throws their troops back into confusion. With the lead unit of levies already disrupted, the guardsmen advance past them to take up the lead in the attack — but they too have their formation broken up by the close-range fire of the archers. The drow spearmen in front of them seize the opportunity, charging in and routing them.
Game status: Storm Lords demoralization: 6/23; Sulatar demoralization: 2/26.
Turn 8
Seeing their comrades under pressure from the heavy cavalry in the plain, with more human units moving up to support, the second unit of Sulatar spearmen advanced and charged in to support them. But engaging the fresh Deneith cavalry in the open was unwise — the spearmen take heavy losses and are broken. The original unit of spearmen are fighting grimly to the end, both taking and inflicting losses on the Deneith cavalry. Meanwhile, the drow hunters in the woods to the south finish wiping out the Stormreach scouts there and prepare to move forwards.
In the centre, the levies are finally getting out of the way of the crossbowmen, though the undisciplined troops are still difficult to direct and are still causing disruption to their own lines. A unit of horse crossbowmen tries to screen the levies, and the artillery now coming into range, but takes heavy losses as it draws the attention of the elven archers and is routed.
On the north side, the levies engage and overwhelm the elven spearmen on this side, and begin chasing down the drow scouts which are forced to withdraw. The drow noble cavalry charge back into the light infantry, hoping to disperse the disrupted troops — but they take heavy losses and are routed, although the light infantry are too broken up to rejoin the battle.
Game status: Storm Lords demoralization: 8/23; Sulatar demoralization: 9/26.
Turn 9
The Sulatar can see the tide of battle turning against them. Shurraena Orlyrae, with the archers in the ploughed field, can see that her north flank is driven back by the levies, and her archers will soon be flanked — and even at close range, they are not causing enough casualties to deter their advance. The archers are now causing losses to Commander Markus' crossbowmen, and the battle may hinge on breaking the inferior missile troops in front of them. The Deneith artillery is now firing at the archers, disrupting the southern end of their line.
The hunters swing around and charge into the rear of Taggart d'Deneith cavalry, already much worn down by a protracted fight with the drow spearmen. However, despite heavy losses, the cavalry hold, and the drow spearmen are now mostly dead or fleeing; and there are levies moving up to help disperse the hunters.
Game status: Storm Lords demoralization: 8/23; Sulatar demoralization: 12/26.
Turns 10 & 11
The drow make their last attack, throwing the fire elementals into the heavy cavalry and causing some losses for the humans. But attacking these heavy troops is desperation, and the elementals are taking heavy losses and can only delay the inevitable. Meanwhile the hunters are routed by the other unit of cavalry.
The levies charge into Shurraena's archers, disrupting them, and the crossbowmen begin pouring fire into the other archers. The drow can see the writing on the wall and, as the archers begin to falter, it soon turns into a general retreat.
Game status: Storm Lords demoralization: 8/23; Sulatar demoralization: 16/26.
Post-Battle Analysis
The Storm Lords deployed badly, and had trouble bringing their numbers to bear. They also had some bad luck on the south side of the battle, where their heavy cavalry could have trampled the spearmen much quicker with some luck. Although it may have worked out for the best, as the SLs were close to the threshold for defeat for most of the second half of the game: if the badly battered heavy cavalry had got free sooner and tried to advance, the archers may have routed them.
The Sulatar, on the other hand, had terrible luck: the human forces took a beating from the archers for far too long and yet held together. Commander Marcus' unit was nearly routed at the end, the levies could have been routed many times, and the heavy cavalry (worth 3 demoralization points on their own) were nearly routed by the rear charge — they could easily have reached the winning line with some better luck.
Impetus
I'm not sure about Impetus. The way that Cohesion tests work means that there is enormous unpredictability; a melee can drag on for many rounds if both sides retain cohesion, and then suddenly one side can get obliterated in one roll. It may be a bit too far from what I am used to. I do not think that the levies (taken from the French Hundred Years War army list) are balanced, at least against the fantasy units — 7 points each for units that destroyed my spearmen and could waste most of the fire of my 30 point archer units. I am sure I made tons of rule mistakes though. I was also very lost in the way that command structure and generals' leadership bonuses applied, and found the initiative system a little complicated for my liking.
VBU seemed to give units a double advantage — they both do a lot of damage, and are not only hard to kill but hard to even weaken. So the VBU 7 heavy cavalry seemed really hard to break up, and ate through far more than their points cost in drow units.
Consequences
Mighty Empires provides guidance on translating Warhammer Fantasy Battle results back into losses for banners — it is presumed that many troops that fall in battle really just flee the field or are out of the fight injured but not killed. This system results in reducing losses by around half. For comparison, typical results from the in-game combat system of ME, for those playing it as a standalone game, are 200-300pts of losses aside.
I decided to go with half-casualties across the board here: units routed in Impetus had their value reduced by half, and units that took VBU damage were reduced by half that amount. I also gave the drow the benefit of one gain in the battle — in Impetus a general can improve (or worsen) during the fight if they get a lucky roll, and Shurraena did do so about half-way through, which is worth +10 points to the army value (50 points in my translation to ME).
So I calculate that the drow took 410 points of net losses (in ME terms), and the humans took 390 points of losses. Many of the most expensive drow units, namely the wizard and archers, were little damaged by the end of the game, whereas the human units have mostly taken losses and in particular the expensive heavy cavalry are badly beaten up. So the humans have a strategic win, but it has not improved their strength relative to the drow facing them. They have paid dearly for the win, due to their bad deployment.
