In the middle of the battlefield the Phoenix guard had realised their folly and rallied, turning to move back to the dwarven lines which remained largely in tact.
Finuvir charged into the flank of the entrenched
cannon battery and quickly slew the crew. The dwarf lord had anticipated the move and moved to protect his grudge thrower which was next in line.
The elf archers now had bow fire mastery over the battlefield. They had slain all but three of the Dwarf quarellers who still tried in vain to whittle down their foe.
Having recovered their compusure the Phoenix Guard charged into a large unit of Dwarf Longbeards holding the hill, it was all or nothing and the Dwarves soon proved their mastery. The charge opened up a gap in the Dwarf lines and the swordmasters exploited the opportunity to engage and quickly rout the grudge thrower crew. The destruction was not immediate though and the Dwaf Lord charged the rear of the Swordmasters, the combat was ferocious and merciless but the units themselves did little damage to each other. It was the Dwarf Lord who turned the tide by slaughtering several Swordmasters with mighty swings of his axe (the dwarfs later joked that it was like an Ogre against child hobbits). The Swordmasters were totally dismayed by the power of the Dwarf Lord, they fled and were cut down to the last elf.
The battlefield was now strewn with the dead and dying. Cries of anguish were let out by the Elves amidst the dying oaths of the dwarfs.
Continued fire from the undamaged repeater bolt thrower and two units of Elven archers slowly but surely continued to weaken the dwarf lines.
Now, few viable units remained. All the dwarven artillery bar a bolt thrower were unmanned and unusable. The dwarfs had some combat ready units but they were weakened by ranged missile attacks..
On the High Elf side, the Lion Chariot, a repeater bolt thrower, the Swordmasters, Phoenix Guard, Lion Chariot, Dragon Princes and two eagles had all fled from the field or been wiped out.
Despite these heavy casualties on both sides there was still not clear victor. The elves remained a strong missile fire force but the dwarfs had the upper hand in combat troops.
Finally, on the Souther flank, after much Dwarven foot stomping the White Lions and Dwarfs clashed in a frenzy of hard steel. Great axes cleaved a couple of dwarves in two but their mighty hammers crushed the tender Elven frames beneath them. The combat was evenly balanced and continued well away and almost unnoticed from the rest of the battle.
More crushing blows saw more death amongst both sides but now the Dwarves had gained the upper hand and, despite their stubborness, the Elves were unnerved and ran. This was no organised retreat and confusion amongst the Elven ranks saw them all scattered or slain by the pursuing Dwarfs.
..............
Finuvir surveyed the field. Many of his closest friends had died this day and others lay mortally wounded.
The Dwarfs had little ranged weaponry to threaten the High Elf host (save one bolt
thrower that Finuvir himself was bearing down upon).
The Elves could circle to their heart's content picking off the remaining enemy warriors. Only the remaining elven bolt thrower would be under any threat. There was no honour in such a lowly tactic though. The Dwarves had fought bravely and shown their mastery of steel and shield.
The day was done, no one in this fight had won the field. All they had both done was written memories in their annuals and made widdows and orphans.
Finuvir signalled to his army to collect their fallen and to withdraw. The dwarf lord did likewise as he drew out his quill and family book of grudges. Both generals knew that the battle was over and naught was now to be achieved.
DRAW.
