Fantasy action

                                                   Undead v Dwarves 300 points 

With all the new rule sets we have been playing of late I decided that this weeks game would be a fantasy affair using the quick and easy Warband rules. I decided to field a Undead army which would do battle against my dads Dwarf army. 

The armies consisted of: x 2 Undead warriors, X 1 Undead riders (skirmishes) X 2 Zombie hordes, X 1 Scrubs, 1 X Undead Catapult, Nexromancer and Undead Lord (powerful/regeneration). The Dwarves had X 5 Warriors (steadfast) X 1 Troll Slayers, X 1 Hounor Guard (steadfast) 1x Dwarf cavalry and a Exceptional Dwarf commander.

The battle lines advanced towards each other 

In the opening moves I utilised the commander to move my troops as a group move, it can be painfully slow going trying to get the undead army up into combat, especially when there are hills and fields hampering your progress. This was probably my first mistake as I had positioned my catapult behind the hill, the idea was to get it on the hill so it would be in a position to have a good field of fire. However  I couldn't get it to move more than once so I wasted a good couple of turns when it could have been firing. When I did get it into position the catapult caused severe damage onto a Dwarf warrior unit, but after this most of the Dwarves managed to get into combat so my targets were limited much to my frustration, oh well lesson learned!

The much under used catapult, when it did shoot it showed its potential to devasting effect with the added help of the commanders points.

The dwarves are ready to charge as the scrubs eye the badly wounded warrior unit which has just suffered from a almighty rock landing amongst there ranks 

The Dwarves hurl abuse at there foe under the watchful eye of their commander aloft on his throne.

With the initiative this turn the dwarves are Unable to contain themselves and charge the line of undead, however despite having the bonus of the charge the undead line held firm with the Undeadlord particularly fighting well. However these bearded folk were made of stern stuff and been steadfast they refused to give ground.

Try as I might I could not break the Dwarf warriors who had suffered at the rock of the catapult. The scrubs charged over and over again but I couldn't get the one remaining hit I required to rout them, even with the added help of some magic from the necromancer. The Skelton riders joined the melee  and were in turn counter charged by another drwaf warrior unit. This multi combat turned into a fight of nutrition as both sides just couldn't get enough hits to rout or destroy there foe as the combat lasted the entire of the rest of the game. The undead Lord eventually managed to retreat the troll slayers but the undead warriors in support crumbled to dust as there last casualty was reached. The other undead warriors were also forced out of the combat leaving the undead Lord,at least at the moment fighting on his own.

Gaps start to appear in the battle lines as units are pushed back from the fighting.

The Dwarf baby horses ermm sorry cavalry move around to support the warriors who have just charged and forced the necromancer to retreat opening a gap in the undead line.

At this stage of the game I charged as many of my troops as I could into combat. Right along the line most of our units were in combat. However a combination of some fine dwarf armour protection and my necromancer not getting enough magic points to cast his combat boosting spells onto the undead units saw me unable once again to cause any panic in the dwarf line as another of my warrior units crumbled to dust. The honour guard and troll slayers pushed back both my units on the far right side of the hill as my right flank started to look very vulnerable.

All out action as both armies are locked in a swirling melee across the entire front line

The troll slayers look to meet a fitting doom they fight against the ranks of the undead

The combined fighting power of both the troll slayers and the Hounor guard over powered and destroyed my zombie horde and pushed back the undead warriors. With this result the slayers managed to charge into the flank of my Undead Lord who was already locked in combat to his front. This sparked a series of charges as my necromancer and warriors charged to help the Lord in a desperate struggle to try and tip the balance of the combat. In return the hounour guard charged into the melee in what was a series of charges counter charges and flank attacks.

The big melee in the centre, if the Undead Lord was to be defeated it would surely lead to the final destruction of the undead force.

Still on the my left flank the scrubs and riders continued the fight against the stubborn dwarf warriors, two of the three dwarf units were now  down to one final hit point but I was unable to inflict the required damage to rout the units. A zombie horde also managed to keep the dwarf cavalry and warriors locked in combat for a number of turns 

The dwarves King charges into the Undead Lord in a challenge to the death

Despite the best efforts of the troll slayers and the challenge from the Dwarf King, the Undead Lord holds his own and survives to continue the fight as his powerful attacks inflict damage onto the King.

With this turn completed we had ran out of time and the battle had ended in a stalemate. The Dwarves were definetly holding the upper hand at this point and I don't know how much longer the Undead Lord could hold out before he would be destroyed . His destruction would have been the final nail in the coffin ( ha no pun intended ) and my army would have crumbled. Although I hadn't manage to destroy any dwarves units they far from had it their own way as the fact a number of their warrior units were down to their final hit. It was good to have a game of Warband again and get out the fantasy armies, always makes for a nice change from historical periods.

The final battlefield position