Face of the Demon - Black Moon Incarnate vs. Mirish

"Have you ever faced a Demon, General Pereira?" asked one of his guardsmen.
"No, never have." he replied. Looking forward he could see the Horde and his skirmishers coming into contact. "But I think that's about to change."

*****************************************************

The Set Up

The Black Moon forces were the attacker as they had invaded Mirish but as Mirish had moved to attack them I gave the terrain advantage to the Black Moon. Rolling up the terrain gave a valley of clear terrain 12" wide with woods and hills on either side. Not cavalry terrain at all.

Rolling for their tactics, the Black Moon decided to Penetrate the Center. After set up, their army had a front line of Rep 3 Horde units backed by Orcs, a Rep 7 Major Demon (the Leader) and a Rep 4 Minor Demon. The set up required flank forces to be deployed to hold back and prevent any attempted flank attacks on the main body so archers, gargoyles, wolf riders and winged men were placed on the flanks.

After the last Mirish units were placed, the battle began. Pereira had a plan but there were flaws in it that would be revealed as the battle progressed.

***************************************************

As the Black Moon army was lacking in missile fire and had very low morale on the whole, the Mirish plan was to send its skirmishers forward  to shoot at the Horde as they advanced. Much reliance was placed on Shazaam the Glorious. Siphoning off recruiting rolls from the army to the Black Arts, Shazaam was in charge of six Mages with LOTS of magic. Pereira had been specific. Blast spells at the Horde then at the Major Demon. The archers fired and the first Blast spell tore into the Horde.

 As the battle started the flank guards of the Black Moon army went to the attack. As it became obvious that Mirish would not try a cavalry sweep the winged men and Gargoyles on the flanks attacked the skirmishers, driving them off. But they suffered as well as Shazaam fired a Blast spell at them sending them backwards.

 Pereira had expected the Horde to run after the archery fire and Blast spells but the second line of support had forced them to continue on. By now the Minor Demon had advanced towards the elephants and levies that were holding the Mirish left flank.

 Again magic was fired but the Horde continued on. Wavering, they charged. The skirmishers fled and one Horde unit contacted Shazzaam and the other Mages! A Mage in melee was not a good thing.

 Luckily the Horde had been so decimated by the fire on the way up that they melted under the fire of the Mirish cavalry and even Shazaam was lucky enough to win the melee, routing off the weakened Horde opponent.

 Now the second line of Black Moon troops were coming into the battle. The Mirish elephants charged the Minor Demon but the levies refused to go. Combat was fought and both sides held their ground.

 The main Black Moon battle line charged forward taking fire from the Mirish cavalry. Only the Black Moon Orc and Major Demon continued into contact, the lower Rep forces halting in place or routing off.

The cavalry routed off the Orc but the flaw in Pereira's plan became apparent. The Major Demon was a fanatic and the only way to defeat it would be to give it's AC 8 a$$ 7 hits. 

Even worse, the horses didn't like the Demon. When the melee was over and both sides passed 2d6, the cavalry was forced to retire and take a hit as they had not routed the infantry enemy. It would have been better to dismount and hold the Demon in place. Instead, the cavalry would be limited to hit and run attacks, taking damage every turn.

The cavalry fell back and the Demon continued on in pursuit, cutting down a unit before going straight towards the Mirish Cataphracts, commanded by Pereira!

Part Two.