Before the first arrow was loosed or axe blade fell in anger the trade routes ran thick with gold and weapons. The commerce and exchange of goods kept the Dwarfs and Elves from letting either's peculiarities tarnish their honour and friendship.

It was this linchpin that Malekith's forces struck at in secret hopes of unraveling this bond between the Dwarfs and High Elves - eventually starting war that would further the Dark Elves' own malicious agenda.

This scenario recreates one of the many ambushes set by Malekith's forces, trapping the Dwarf caravans, slaughtering their guards, kidnapping their kin, and plundering any weapons and gold. Of which was the bigger insult to the Dwarfs, the death of their kin or the plundering of their gold, we will never know.

Overview: In this scenario a smaller force takes advantage of surprise and better position to ambush a larger force.

Armies: Both armies are chosen using the Warhammer Army lists found in White Dwarf #264, #265, and #266. The Dwarfs have 50% more points than the High Elves (rounding fractions down). Eg, 1,500 points of High Elves would face 2,250 points of Dwarfs.

Battlefield: We suggest using lots of rocky terrain and scrubby pines around the edges of the board to provide cover for the attackers.

1. The Dwarfs must set up their army first, in the deployment zone shown on the map. All units must face towards the same table edge. The Dwarfs do not have to deploy their Scouts until the high Elves have set up their army.

2. The High Elves then deploys their army. At least one third of the High Elves' units (not counting Scouts, characters and monsters) must be in each deployment zone.

3. The Dwarfs then deploys any Scouts, followed by the high Elves deploying their Scouting units.

Who goes first? The High Elves goes first.

Length of game: The game lasts for five turns.

Special rules: The Dwarf player should model a baggage train (or use suitable models to represent one). You can find great Dwarf beer carts in the Mail Order archive, treasure chests from Mordheim or the paymaster's chest from the Dogs of War work well too! We suggest making the baggage train so that it fits on top of two cavalry bases.

In addition, the Dwarf forces may not take any war machines nor may there be any more than one runic item in the army (be it a weapon, armor, standard, etc. etc.).

Victory conditions: Calculate Victory points for destroyed units and units below half strength. In addition, if the game ends with any of the High Elf forces touching the baggage train (it must be a unit or model with a Unit Strength of 5 or more) then the attacker gains an additional 350 victory points. Do not award Victory points for anything else. The player with the highest Victory points total is the winner.

The battle took place between Dwarfs and High Elves (actually Dark Elves in disguise), in a ravine with lots of rocky terrain and one well worn trade route that extends from one end of the board to the other.