The Forum

Now it was Mark’s chance to act again. At last the elf missile cavalry moved forward to unleash a volley at the orc line. They forced the flyers to flee and a unit of heavy chariots recoiled. On the ridge, the bolt shooters disrupted the horde in the farmstead, and, with help from some well-placed arrows, forced a unit of orc archers to recoil back into the second unit of flyers, disrupting them as they made way.
Hoping to replicate his earlier success against my missile troops, the elves charged into the orc archers- with a unit of spearmen in column! If this succeeded I vowed never to allow another orc archer onto the field of battle! Luckily, they stalled the attack and melee formed. I was concerned, though, that the Treemen were beginning to get a lot closer. Back at the Yoke Falls, the elves tried desperately to divert the orcs attention on their general. Chariots thundered into the orcs with the hero general, a unit of archers waded across the river to join the attack- but the deeper water nullified their effectiveness (Mark was hoping to win the combat and then allow his archers to follow up and move out of the water).

The elves lost- even fighting alongside a unit of disrupted horde with a combat factor of 2, the orc Hero General was too much for the elves and both units fell back - the chariots were also disrupted as they are B class troops as opposed to the elf archers A class status. The orcs followed up.
The horde trying to delay the cavalry on the edge of the wood , were destroyed. The elf cavalry followed up.
The combat in the woods was firmly in my favour with the fresh infantry now in the fray. I was at a +4 advantage over Mark’s cavalry. “Now for a double 6!” Mark declared, rolling his 2d6, and promptly rolled a total of 3. Amidst much laughter, I rubbed my hands in anticipation of the imminent demise of the elf general and his retinue, rolled my 2d6… and scored 2! My jaw hit the floor. Mark was jubilant as all I managed to achieve was a recoil for the elves, although they fell back into his other heavy cavalry who were disrupted. My Mountain orcs followed up to allow time for my general to remove the disruption effect in my coming turn.

How could a single of unit of elf cavalry be causing such problems whilst fighting orc heavy infantry in woodland!
It was now time to try and divert attention from this wavering flank, and take back the initiative in this battle- it was time to unleash the orc cavalry!
As the line swept in, the elven chariots and horse archers fell back, much to the annoyance of the elf infantry left to take the brunt of the assault. 2 units each of heavy chariots and wolf riders formed the first wave of the charge, closely supported by infantry and the rest of the cavalry. A barrage of arrows and heavy artillery bolts flew from the elven lines, flinging back a unit of heavy chariots (forced to flee and lose a stand), and a unit of wolf riders with a general recoiled. Just 2 units of the orc charge had hit home, it was now imperative they tied up the elven missile units in combat to allow the second wave of chargers to sweep in on my next turn. The impact of the charge worked well. The heavy chariots cut down half a unit of spearmen and drove them back disrupted. The wolf riders became entangled in melee with 2 units of elf archers. The elf counter-attack was coming, but this flank lacked the numbers of elf heavy combat troops, so I was hoping they would find it hard to dislodge the orcs now that the fighting had started.
In the centre, bolt shooters this time succeeded in driving the orcs from the farmstead in disruption. They forced another unit behind to make way, disrupting them also. This continued to cause problems to the orc general here trying to organise a cohesive force to meet the arrival of the Treemen- although this was helped by the orc archers and artillery managing to drive back some elf archers and take a stand off them. The archers fell back into a unit pf Treemen which were disrupted, Mark cursed his poor placement as the Treemen were very slow and this would delay the advance of this unit.
The combat between the orc archers and elf spearmen continued with both sides locked in melee. The fighting at the river ground on. With no extra troops to launch into the battle to decisively swing it in my favour, all combats resulted in melee results and stayed as they were. The giants (I had also brought a general from the ridge down to accompany these) at last rounded the edge of the woodland and my general, in the woods, at last came out of disrupted status, ready to attack in my next turn.

The elven turn was marked with a major escalation of the fighting on their right flank. They knew that with the orcs beginning to hit their line, they had to snuff out this threat as quickly as possible and re-establish a firing line to hold the next wave of attackers at bay. Mark hurled in units to accomplish this.
With so little missile fire to bring to bear, the elves caused no damage to the orcs. However, the combat was definitely in favour of the elves, who practically surrounded my heavy chariots who had punched into their line on my turn. Any loss for me, even a minor one, would see the orcs overrun and destroyed. The dice were rolled, and this time it was Mark’s jaw that hit the floor as the orcs survived and promptly drew all of his surrounding units into a massed melee- sitting ducks for the orcs steaming towards them in the second wave of chargers! (These lucky orc charioteers had obviously been to the same school of survival as Mark’s heavy- or should I say Ninja- cavalry fighting off waves of orc infantry in the woods near to the river). The other combats along the line also remained locked in melee. The elven line was in deep trouble. In the centre, the Treemen continued to advance ponderously (Mark voiced his regrets with placing the powerful, yet slow, Treemen in the centre with so much ground to cover. He really needed their influence on the right flank against the orc cavalry. This would probably have been a better deployment as the elf infantry on the flank had not advanced far at all). The combat between the orc archers and elf spearmen at last shifted with the orcs forced to recoil and become disrupted. Mark’s relief with this small victory was short lived when he realised he had pushed them further away from the Treemen, and they were now under threat from my Mountain Orcs who were chewing on their shields in anticipation of the imminent action. Through offers of cups of tea and a biscuit, I hoped to distract Mark from the battle around Yoke Falls and he might magically forget all about it. But, alas, it was not to be. His general and cavalry wiped out half a unit of Mountain orcs, disrupted them, and harried them back through the woods. Elves poured across the river to attack my beleaguered Hero General. A third elf general joined in this assault (one positive I did draw from the massacre of my troops on this flank was that the elves had committed 3 out of their 5 generals to this fight- one of whom was already dead- thus stripping command from the rest of the field. This now matched the number of generals I had brought onto this flank, although all of mine were still around- a fact I was sure was about to change!). With the elven cavalry once more in the woods behind them, and the masses of infantry fording the river, my Hero General and his troops had nowhere to retreat to when they lost the fight and were cut down where they stood. The victorious elf general from this fight followed up to attack the battered Mountain orcs in the woods. Things were going from bad to worse for the orcs here, and casualties were really starting to mount up. Much now rested on the orc army being able to make serious headway on the other flank.

The orc turn opened. Roaring a challenge, the giants at last surged around the woods and smashed into the elven cavalry, cutting down half the unit and sending the rest fleeing away. The giants pursued and next thundered into a unit of spearmen- could they turn the tide?
The orc genral and remaining heavy infantry in the wood now faced the invincible elf cavalry and archers. They fought hard and held their ground, melee was formed.
In the centre the Mountain Orcs hammered into the elf spearmen, forcing them to recoil, lose a stand and become disrupted. I followed up with the orc archers, and kept the Mountain orcs back in line, to await the Treemen charge! The orc left flank saw the second wave of attackers hurl themselves forward to attack all available elf targets. The bolt shooters, once again, threw back the orcs attacking them, but everywhere else the charge struck home. The resulting combat saw the elven line crumbling, a unit of horse archers perished, and a unit of archers was halved in strength and thrown back disrupted. Orcs were punching holes throughout the line.

The elves needed to act fast to save their right flank from complete collapse. Mark at last commited his single unit of heavy cavalry on this flank, along with an attached general. Elf archers also waded into the fray (desperate times call for desperate measures). Not all of the elves could get into the combat- their decision to form a line between the woodlands was now working against them as they had little room to manouevre.
Savage fighting raged- the elf reinforcements were held as melee formed with a unit of orc heavy chariots. The centre of the line saw some wolf riders forced to recoil, but the remainder of the damaged elf archer unit fell as another unit of wolf riders pushed forward. On the ridge the Treemen lumbered into the Mountain Orcs, smashing them back with ease. The poweful unit then moved forward into the midst of the orc infantry- a dangerous situation indeed! Finally, the conflict at the river reached crisis point for the orcs. The orc general in the wood finally succumbed and was destroyed as the elves at last arrived on the woodlands edge, looking up the slopes of the ridge. The giants, although peppered with arrows and disrupted before the combat started, still battered into the spearmen and engaged them in melee.

Fearing the centre was about to be outflanked, the orcs drew across any spare troops to begin to form a line to repel any attacks launched form the woods near to the Yoke Falls. Fortunately, the giants continued to be a thorn in the elves side as they smashed the elf spearmen back, wiping out half of them and disrupting the survivors. Mark would need to deal with this threat before he could call the flank truely his. The Treemen burst through the orc line and moved to join up with the elves gathering at the base of the ridge. On the orc left flank, the elves plight worsened, as more units succumbed to the increasing pressure of the orc assault. Only the elven heavy cavalry and general remained a threat to the rampaging orcs.