Fantasy battle: Orcs versus elves

I have a long-running fantasy campaign with four major factions - elves, orcs, humans (country of Coastaldia), humans (Lord of the Lake peoples).

As the elves have expanded east and the orcs west, they have both been fighting with a large cluster of city-states separating them. There's one passage around the independent cities (which can be quite strong and difficult to conquer) and an elf army and orc army met at the passage. The orc general, Gaz'ma Li, knowing his king does not reward retreats, attacked.

The forces were almost equal in points.

All troops are 15mm, rules used were Battle Lore (Commands & Colors fantasy) with two house rules: only the commanding general can cast spells, so the loss of a commander meant the inability to cast any more spells; any leader when activated, could move up to three other adjacent units with him, but only the number of units activated on the card could battle.

I play solo, and I was trying a new solo "assistant" - Ajutant Introuvable. The system is quite clever, gives a plan for the enemy, a deployment plan and a somewhat changing set of tactics during the battle. The only issue I had was during the assigning of forces when I ended up with too many units in the reserve - but I solved it by running through the process again, which shifted more forces from the reserve to the front line units. The orcs would be controlled by the "AI" and I would control the elves.

I've included the AI tactics (basically a level of aggression) for each battlefield section in the description below. Because Battle Lore is card driven, I had to play the cards to match the overall plan as best I could. Normally, you would roll to see if the tactics changed after every turn, but with Battle Lore as the rules, I decided every 8 cards I would check for a change in tactics.

Deployment - elves on the right, orcs on the left. (Note, only part of the board is in play -- the cardboard is the far right of the field for the elves (in later shots, it's a treeline).

The heavy elven knights are on the left, opposed by warg riders and the imposing giant. There's a small loop of a fast-moving stream on the elven left that is only crossable at two fords. The elves have deployed two archer units within the stream loop to hopefully rain arrows from protected ground.

The giant is ready for a fight. Elf stew is the dinner plan for tonight.

Elven knights stand steady.

Overall orc strategy: Envelop left

Orc left: charge

Orc center: react

Orc right: react

Orcs launch a volley of arrows at the elven archers inside the stream loop, but score no hits.

Elves shoot back with both units, but thanks to the steadying support of the nearby orcs, the orc archers hold their ground. 

Orcs send their heavy "red X" (from the design of their shields) infantry advancing while the goblins rush forward into the ford to threaten the archers. 

Elves rain arrows on the goblins, driving them back into the woods as some elven heavy infantry move up toward the orc heavies. 

Orc heavies engage the elf heavies near the stream. Elf heavies are forced back. 

Elves cast spell - take aim, to boost their archers, but Orcs cast dispel magic. Elven archers rain arrows on orc heavies, causing one hit and driving them back. 

Orcs move up medium wargs on right to their general and plot their next move.

Elves advance two heavies and a medium infantry unit in the middle to threaten the weak orc center. (Orcs deployed with a strong left along with the reserve behind them, but as a result, the center was fairly weak.)

Orc tactics: L-engage, C-relieve, R-engage

Orcs advance in the center to take up defensive positions in the hills, rearrange their line and shoot at the advancing elf heavies, but cause no casualties.

Elves attack the center ridge, with heavy infantry and medium infantry engaging archers, but only score one hit and fail to drive them back thanks to supporting units. The other heavy infantry attacks the orc savages on the ridge,  causing casualties, but eventually being forced back two moves. 

Orcs shoot arrows at the elven archers, scoring one hit and driving the unit back across the ford to its baseline. In the center, orc savages score one hit on the elven heavies, who manage to hold their ground. On the right, some light wargs move up. 

Goblins cross the ford to try to get at the elven archers.

Elven infantry go after the orc archers and goblin support.

Goblins swarm the isolated elven infantry.

The battle with the goblins rages on.

Elves attempt to exploit a hole in the orc line, flanking the orc archers and attacking their supporting goblins. The medium infantry engage the goblins, scoring two hits, but goblins hold their ground. The heavies engage the archers, scoring one hit, but take casualties and are forced back, leaving the medium infantry unsupported. 

Orcs shoot arrows at elven archers still in stream loop, causing two hits and panic results in a third hit. The orc general casts creeping doom in the midst of the elven heavy cavalry, with one unit taking two hits, one taking one, the medium cavalry taking one, the medium infantry taking two and the heavy infantry taking one. A devastating spell against the closely packed elves weakens their heavy cavalry.

Elves move to save their archers on the right, withdrawing the battered unit from the stream loop and moving the other up in support. 

Orcs bolster their own archers with more goblin support, and the archers attack the elven medium infantry along with the other goblin unit, scoring one hit and forcing them to retreat. The elven attack on the center has been driven back.

Elves launch a bold attack along the center-right, with two units engaging the orc archers and three attacking the orc heavies. The archers are eliminated and the elven heavies march forward to drive a wedge between the goblins and their orc allies on the small ridge. The combined attack eliminates the orc heavies on the elf right.

Orc strategy: L: charge, C: relieve, R: engage

Goblin horde swarms out of the woods and from the rear ranks to attack the advancing elves. causing casualties to the heavy infantry and the medium infantry, but the elves hold their ground. 

Elves launch another massive counterattack against the goblins while the elven archers shoot at the orc archers, but score no hits. The goblins take fairly heavy casualties, but the elven medium infantry is eliminated and the second unit is driven back.  

Orcs charge two units with bow support at the isolated elven heavy infantry. The elves take one casualty and fall back, and a hail of arrows drives them back further. 

Elves in the center maneuver out of their exposed position and engage the lead goblin unit, eliminating it. 

Orcs on the left advance, with archers firing at the elven heavies, scoring another hit. On the right, the wargs move up to form a battle line under the watchful eye of their general. 

Elves shoot at the wargs, but do no damage while scouting the ground in front of their left flank.

Orcs on the left charge the mass of elven infantry, eliminating it, but not before taking casualties. 

Elves counterattack on the right and an elven spy strikes the orc camp.  Elves eliminate the orc infantry unit while taking light casualties.

Orc strategy: L: charge, C: react, R: react

Orcs rain arrows on the heavy elf infantry on the orc left, eliminating the unit. The general falls back to join his own archers. 

Elven general casts hills rumble, causing casualties up and down the orc line. A heavy infantry attacks a weakened goblin unit and eliminates it, knocking a hole in the orc line. 

Orcs attack the elven heavies, and exhausted from their previous attack, are eliminated. 

Elves shoot at the fresh orc medium infantry, sending it into a panic, retreating all the way to its baseline. 

Orcs rain arrows on the elven archers, who are forced back. A second wave of arrows does no damage to the elven medium infantry. 

Elves in the center maneuver around the decimated orc line to surround a battered orc infantry, and under the spell of bless from their commander, eliminate the orcs. The other elf infantry falls on an isolated goblin unit, mauling it, but the goblins stand firm. 

The orcs try to overwhelm the elf infantry.

Both sides send in reinforcements.

Orcs reform their line on the left, retreat the battered goblins and bolster their battle line on the right. The orc archers shoot at the elven medium infantry, forcing them back. The elves now have the equivalent of refused right line. 

Elves bolster their left by moving up medium infantry, bolster the center with some medium cavalry and bolster the right by leading the archers back up into the line. 

Orc strategy: L: charge, c: probe, R: engage

Orcs add heavy infantry to their line on the right and scout their next move.

Elves move up their second battered archer unit and attack the orc archers. They succeed in driving them back. The elven archers on the left shoot at the orc heavies, but do no damage. In the center, the elves charge their two medium cavalry units at the orcs on the hills as their general casts commune with nature to assist them. While the first unit is repulsed, the second one eliminates the orc unit, charges across the ridge and eliminates the second unit. There is now a hole between the orc right and center. 

The elven cavalry push the orcs off the ridge.

Orcs move up their bowmen into the woods and bring up another from reserve. Both fire at the elven archers, scoring one hit. The orc general casts chain lightning into the elven cavalry on the right, and it arcs all across the heavily armored knights and into the supporting infantry. The cavalry is now severely weakened. 

The elven general, afraid the heavy cavalry will fall to more dark spells before coming to grips with the enemy, orders a general cavalry charge stretching from the center down the left flank. The effects are devastating. The first medium wargs are run down by the elven mediums and destroyed, the heavy wargs are decimated and forced back to their baseline and only a stubborn medium warg unit hung on to fight back and eliminate one of the elven cavalry units. 

The elven cavalry charges home.

Only the one stubborn warg unit prevents the entire orc right from dissolving.

The orcs are forced to throw whatever they can into the gap. The heavy infantry moved to flank the heavy cavalry, the wargs continue their attack and the giant moves in to attack the other heavy cavalry. The wargs and infantry combine to eliminate one elven heavy cavalry and its general, while the giant crushes one hit on the other heavy cav and drives them back. The orc line on the right has held!

Elves try to reassemble some semblance of a battle line on the left while their archers provide cover. 

Orcs move up another archer from reserve and rain arrows on the elven archer on the orc left, scoring one hit. 

Elves shoot at the heavies on the left, but miss. They move up their last heavy infantry into the line on the left as well.

Orc strategy: Left: Engage, Center: React, Right: Probe

Orcs move up their archers to support the heavy infantry advancing from the woods to attack the head of the elven line on the left-center. But archers hit nothing. Heavies score one hit, but elves stand the initial attack. 

Elves on the right launch a hail of arrows in support of their medium infantry moving up to engage the orc archers near the heavies. While the orc archers on the flank are driven back, the medium infantry is decimated by a point blank volley and only score one hit on the archers. 

Orcs launch another arrow attack on the elf archers, but the elves withstand the attacks, refusing to be cowed by the crude black arrows.

Elves move up a heavy on the right and attack the orc heavies in the center, but suffer heavy losses for no gains.  

Exhaustion and darkness set in and the Elven prince decides he’s at too much of a disadvantage to continue the fight, opting to keep what he has left as a solid core of an army. He uses his superior cavalry to cover the retreat, leaving the orcs victorious on the field.  

The orcs send in their reserves and the elves are over matched.

The final dispositions. Both sides are battered, but the orcs have the upper hand.

Note: The rule I use for my campaign battles is that the end of the deck represents a natural break point where either side can opt to retreat with no penalties. Retreating at any other time requires a phased withdrawal. To retreat, a unit must be activated to be removed from the board - meanwhile, the enemy can continue to attack and try to claim more kills.

Overall, Adjutant Introuvable was a success (it won!). Using it as a guide resulted in some moves that I would not have made on my own. There were several times I would have pursued action on the orc right, but because the plan was to envelope left, I chose cards to carry out that plan. In the end, it worked. The left ground down and drove back the elves and the reserves deployed to the left pushed the elves almost completely out of the sector and led to the final decision for the elves to retreat. I look forward to using it again in my next solo battle. It's a PDF and only $5 -- I recommend checking it out.