Edge of the Abyss

Disclaimer: this is my first battle report and English is a foreign language for me, so mistakes may occur.
On the blazing sands of Hokh-Man they met, scales and bones, fiery life and chilling undeath. Two forces were determined to establish their position in this region and affect the construction of sepulchral fleet. Salamanders and Undead – who will prevail here?

My force consisted of the following:
Salamander Primes Horde (Brew of Haste) – our infantry block, powerful in attack and sturdy in defense; a bit slow, but their Brew helps with this
Whispering Scales – new shiny unit to test, fast if necessary and protected from shooting; as a regiment, they are a bit pale in comparison to hordes
Kaisenor Lancers Regiment (Maccwar’s Potion of the Caterpillar) – cavalry, fast almost everywhere and literally vicious; their defense, however, makes this regiment look like a glass hammer
Ankylodon Battle Platform – our anvil unit, the walking fortress with supplementary shooting; useful but expensive
Clan Lord on Fire Drake (Heart-Seeking Chant) – our leader and one of hammers, both in shooting and melee; this artifact looked pretty interesting for him, drastically improving already decent Breath Attack (16)
Fire Elementals Horde (Wine of Elvenkind)
and Mage-Priest (Surge, Inspiring Talisman) – yet another hammer and powerful support character; the trick with surging Elementals into the flank of enemy unit has devastating potential and this Fireball has its targets, too

Undead had the following units:
2 Zombies Legion (Brew of Strength and Blessing of the Gods) – massive anvil units, deceptively powerful in combat and notoriously hard to rout; only mass and flank charges could help there
Mummies Regiment (Brew of Courage) – well, another ‘hammer and anvil’ unit; multiple charges should help as well
2 Wraiths Troops (Crepognon’s Scrying Gem of Zellak and Quicksilver Rapier) – fast and dangerous, they can circle my units and threat with flank and rear charges; hard to rout, too
2 Balefire Catapults – a bit risky to use, they have decent damage potential; hard to ignore, but I lack units with long-range shooting or Fly to take care of them
Liche King (Heal, Bane-chant and Shroud of the Saint) – great support and main engine for Zombies’ long charges; hard to hunt down, so I had to leave him for good
Necromancer (Bane-chant, Mreb’s Grimoire of Unspeakable Darkness) – just like the previous one but more fragile and without Heal spell

The overall battle, however, was rather blank and consisted mostly of careful maneuvering and waiting for mistakes. This backfired drastically on me, but more on this later.

Good side has the first turn, so here we go!
Turn 1. Salamanders: minor movements advancing the opponents’ battleline. Monsters still hidden behind infantry and cavalry, Scales take cover in the river.
Undead: Wraiths take good position for further maneuvers, infantry blocks move sideways. Both Catapults hit the Primes, scoring decent 5 damage (they will keep missing from this moment up to turn 6).
Turn 2. Salamanders: slight advancements on both flanks, Ankylodon pivots to be able to see and maybe shoot Wraiths.
Undead: sideway movements and Wights advance further (one of them flies near my left flank, threatening Primes and Elementals).

Dice shows ‘2’ and the game ends with my loss. Undead receive this place for future fleet.
My main mistakes were uncertainty with offensive or defensive style of playing, deployment (Ankylodon should cover the front) and positioning (dividing the force was poor decision and those Wraiths were able to wreck my powerful Elementals and Lancers). Nevertheless, it was a great starting game with tense moments and (un)fortunate dice rolls; Marwin was a good opponent, too.
I hope this wall of text wasn’t too tedious.

Smells of rotten and seared flesh hung heavily in the air. Clan Lord Silent Flame observed the battlefield with thick layer of red in his eyes. His comrades were routed and his pride mortally wounded. No one but crawling legion of foul undead were there, ready for more bloodshed.
Sorcery! Its vile tendrils enveloped those who should stay dead and unnatural wave was advancing. Hollow sockets, clutching fingers and decaying bodies seemed to be everywhere. They (or is it just him already?) will have to retreat, there is no other way left.
Crisl, his loyal beast, turned heavy head and emitted a loud roar. Moments passed and answer could be heard. There are survivors, praise the Kthorlaq.
Silent Flame looked at the far sea one last time. It will be polluted soon, his homeland – endangered. Yet there were battles to fight, lands to protect and fire to keep. One day he will have his revenge and regain pride.
Lonesome figures retreated from charred sands, their eyes turned away.
Unearthly chill followed them.
They lost today.