We both went for an 900 points army in a mountain terrain, we started on either side of an HUGE hill.
Devot army
1 Warped lord(Vortex, Possession, Summon G.Demon)
1 Necromancer(Quicken Dead, Summon U.Knight)
8 Human Skeletons(all proxies..)
8 Greatsword followers, 1 Bannerman
4 Followers
Totall points: 901
Firstborn army
4 Maceman
8 Crosssbows, 1 leader
1 Chronomancer (all spells)
4 Swordsmen, 1 Greatsword, 1 Bannerman
1 Judge
Totall points: 813
After this pagan added a maceman standard and a Greatmaceman(28+21=49) which brought him up to 862 points. He was quite generous and let me keep my troopers intact because he had slaughtered them easily with his crossbows before... But then I hadnīt have any risens...
Let the War begin.....
Commander Gawyn sat on his demon mount and looked over the terrain, his scouts had told him the firstborns where on the other side of a huge hill, and their banners could be seen through a pass a bit to the west. Rumors told him that general Pagan led the firstborns, after a humiliating defeat at the able commanders hand before it was time for some revenge.
This time Aleha had finally granted him a necromancer and some risen. His misstake with storming firstborn crossbows would not be repeated. Gawyn still remembered that battle, and it brought him no joy. He had been trapped between the two firstborn generals aZZo and Pagan. While 18 crossbows poundered his troops his loyal Harbringer and a whole legion of Followers and Cursed had protected his retreat with his dabbling Warped lord, that mage hadnt brought up a single spell to help!
Well his head now served as a decoration in his private quarters at Alehas palace...
With a gesture of his hand he commanded his magic users to bring forth allies from the netherworld. His loyal risen began stumbling through the pass followed closely by his Greatsword followers. The rest of the risen began circling the hill to the right quickened by the necromancer they would probably arrive in good time for the battle. Closely after followed his cursed, and farther back a newly risen Knight hurried to catch up.
-Lord Gawyn, It looks like the firstborns goes on defence.
-Yes, Hoblin. Gawyn answered his dark eye bodyguard. Heīs probably waiting to get a line of sight with his crossbows. But I wonīt allow that this time!
The risens in the pass met fierce resistance by firstborns swordmen led by a dreaded Judge. While the Greatswords began to make firstborn soup in the pass the other group of risens met macemans who fiercly protected a closely placed Chronomancer. With a little help from the cursed the macemens where brought to panic and the risen quickly grew in numbers. The undead knight began to make a run for the crossbows which stood ready for action just a few yards away. They got a few lucky shots(two "1") and killed half of my cursed.
The Chronomag where now surrounded by 7 risens and 4 followers where on their way. He was wounded but still fought on. He must have succesfullly blocked about 13 risen blows by then and when he finally was brought down by a cursed he had made 4 bonepiles of my beloved risens.. I must admit that he died like a hero. But he did go down, and quickly joined my ranks.
The crossbows easily killed my knight, but a new one was on his way acompanied by a Twilight Demon.
In the pass the firstborns were slowly losening. They had beaten all my risens there but the Greatwords outnumbered them 2:1. The Judge was wounded and in a bad position (3 Greatswords where punching on him and he had no support..)
Then the Horns of retreat where sounded by the firstborns. The Judge and 2 remaining swordsmen and 7 X-bows and their leader regrouped a couple of miles away. They lived to fight the Devout another day.
Commander Gawyn couldnīt celebrate for long. The Obsidian elves where being troublesome and Aleha needed one of her favourite commanders on the field.
Gawyn sighed, course he know the firstborn would be a problem again if they where left unnoticed. General Pagan was still alive and at large, and next time he would surely not be alone. His friend general aZZo would probably come along and with him the might of the Repulsar knights. He wondered if the Dwarves would be interested in a temporarly alliance...For the right price of course.
To be continued....
Afterwords:
Gawyn: Well the battle wasnt even from the start because of my 50 points lead. But we thought it would bring some balance to the game because of his "almighty" crossbows. We introduced the new missile rule for the first time and I had finally found some proxies for my risens and Necromancer. They proved to be a quite powerful against an army of this sort. And we finally played with real placed terrain. A couple of paper boxes acted as hills and a lone tree stood at the top. But it really improved the feeling of the battle field. Earlier games at flat tables wasnt really fair..
To all Devout generals who read this, do not, I repeat, do not forget to create some sort of missile screen against crossbows. One turn is all it takes for them to bring our Followers and Cursed to the graveyard. Risens work great for this if u can somehow quicken them. Otherwise your advance will be painfully slow. And your enemy will be the one to decide where to move or not. If he isnīt terribly stupied ofcourse..but in that case, who needs tactics anyway? ;)