2500 Dwarf v. Dark Elf Battle

Terrain had little effect on the game, except for a small patch of woods near the center of the board

Dwarfs

Runelord (248) - shield, RoStone, RoPreservation, MRoBalance, 2xSpellbreaker (in hammerers)
Thane BSB (155) - BSB, MRoGromil, RoPreservation, RoResistance (in hammerers)
40 Warriors (425) - GW, full command
40 Warriors (465) - Ranger, GW, full command
38 Hammerer (536) - full command, MRoGrungi
Cannon (125) - RoForging
Cannon (130) - RoForging, RoBurning
Grudgethrower (155) - RoAccuracy, 2xRoPenetrating
Organ Gun (120)
Gyrocopter (140)

Total: 2499

Dark Elves
redundant name... all Elgi are shiftless and untrustworthy

I did not have access to the opponent's army list, so this is by memory

Lvl 4 sorceress, shadow magic, dagger that grants power dice for sacrificing models
Lvl 2 sorceress, fire magic
Both in a block of spearmen

Horde of witch elves
Horde of executioners+BSB hero with "always strike first" banner
Horde of corsairs with seadragon cloaks and hand crossbows

cauldron of blood
6 harpies

(The cauldron was misused during the game. The opponent didn't understand that it was a warmachine, and treated it an a generic unit upgrade. The unit moved at regular elf speed and charged into melee twice during the game. I missed out on at least 2 cannon shots because of this)

Deployment

Dwarfs were lined up close to the back of the board, left to right, Organ gun, hammerers, cannon, grudgethrower, cannon, warriors, gyro
DE were lined up corsairs, executioners, cauldron, spearmen, harpies, witch elves

With scout deployment, ranger warrior were placed 12" from corsairs, adjacent to the left board edge

Battle

Turn 1: Dwarf
Rangers advance towards corsairs, positioning so that executioners cannot charge them
Grudgethrower misfires, out of action for next turn
Cannon fires at lvl 4 sorceress, rolled short on extra range, killed 1 spearman after sorceress makes "look out sir" roll
Cannon 2 fires at lvl 2 sorceress (trees in central forest block LOS to lvl 4), ball lands in from of unit, misfire/doesn't bounce x2, no damage.
No other movement

Turn 1: DE
Corsairs fail leadership test to refrain from charging, charge ranger warriors
Lvl 4 sorceress cast mindrazor with IF on corsairs (miscast causes 1 wound on each DE wizard)
Cauldron grants 5+ ward save to cauldron
corsairs kill 25+ ranger warriors, warriors kill ₄ corsairs, warriors break, flee, and are run down
Other DE advance, harpies in center of board

Turn 2: Dwarf
Organ gun kills 4 executioners
Gyro advances, lines up perpendicular to line of harpies, hits 4 with steam gun, no wounds
Cannon shot, minimal damage
Cannon shot, minimal damage
Grudgethrower can't shoot due to previous misfire
Other DE advance

Turn 2: DE
Corsairs quick reform and advance
Harpies roll low and fail charge on cannon
Other DE units advance
Lvl 4 wizard casts purple sun, no IF, block with spellbreaker

Turn 3: Dwarf
Grudgethrower hits center of spearmen, kills ₁₅, no panic
Cannon shoots at lvl 4 wizard, successful look out sir roll, kills several spearmen
Cannon shoots into flank of witch elves, kills 9
Organ gun moves left, so that DE charging/killing gun won't overrun into hammerers
Gyro advances and moves right to bait witch elves
Warriors charge harpies, harpies flee, land in central woods (woods are magical and aggressive, attack and kill harpies 🙂)

Turn 3: DE
Cauldron charges cannon, kills it and reforms towards grudgethrower
Executioners charge organ gun, kill, and reform towards flank of hammerers
Corsairs advance towards front of hammerers, witch elves charge gyro, gyro flees

Turn 4: Dwarf
Grudgethrower targets spearmen (only a few left, trying to finish off wizards), misses
Cannon shoots at lvl 4 wizard, bounces over her, kills a spearman
Gyro rallies, and returns to bait witch elves
Hammerers await charges (I'd rather take executioners in the flank than the front, to minimize the number of attacks... WS5, S6 with hatred, frenzy, and striking first is a no win situation no matter who charges who)

Turn 4: DE
Executioners charge hammerers in flank, corsairs charge hammers in front
... BSB calls out challenge, corsair champion accepts, no wounds to either particpant
lose about 15 hammers, kill about 10 corsairs, stay stubborn
cauldron charges and kills second cannon, puts ward save on corsairs
spearmen (2 wizards plus about 3-4 spearmen) charge and kill grudgethrower
witch elves fail to restrain, charge gyro, gyro flees

Turn 5: Dwarf
Main fight: BSB kills corsair champion, lose about 10 hammerers, kill 5-6 corsairs
WS6 runelord has missed all 4 attacks through two rounds of combat
Gyro rallies, advances to bait witch elves

Turn 5: DE
Lvl 4 sorceress casts IF mindrazor on corsairs, miscast causes 1 wound on each wizard, finishing off lvl 2
Corsairs obliterate remaining 15 or so hammerers and characters (BSB called out a challenge, but was refused)
witch elves fail to restrain, charge gyro, gyro flees

Turn 6: Dwarf
Warriors charge witch elves (why not, game was over a while ago)
31 witch elves kill about 20 warriors, warriors kill ₁₀ witch elves, warrior lose combat, break, and are run down

Called game

Analysis
At the end of the day, I killed a lvl 2 sorceress and a small unit of harpies (3-4 spearmen of the original 30 or so were still alive)
I lost everything except the gyro

My ranger warriors against his corsairs should have been a good matchup. Opponent was upset at his unintended charge, because he wanted a turn of shooting then a stand-and-shoot reaction to whittle down my numbers before melee. However, the IF mindrazor quickly changed his tune. After that debacle, we played the rest of the game with my ₂₀₀₀ points fighting his 2500.

The grudgethrower misfire on turn 1 was a serious blow. One good shot took out about 15 spearmen. If I had two more turns, I could have pasted a good fraction of his executioners. Except for one good shot into the flank of the witch elves, and that one good grudgethrower shot, my artillery provided very little benefit. Also, my opponent's cauldron should not have been charging and killing warmachines in close combat, so I gave up at least two cannon shots from that mistake. In total, the 4 warmachines didn't kill enough to cover the cost of two of the machines. I came into the game expecting hydras, and didn't have many good cannon targets when the hydras didn't show up. My opponent later said that everyone expects big targets like hydras for DE, abominations for skaven, etc, and plans their armies accordingly, so he skips bringing those units to take advantage of others' army compositions.

I probably erred by putting so much focus onto sniping the wizards. Shooting the cauldron was an option, but T10 and a 4+ ward save makes it a dicey proposition. Shooting into the side of the witch elf horde gave good results, and I should have done that a second time instead of wasting my last shot going after the lvl 4 wizard. My one and only grudgethrower shot would have been better served targeting executioners.