Three games in one weekend!
**This was a kick in the face, no Objectives. We both took a few units specifically for scoring. And while his Scouts have some utility beyond that, my two barebones Jetbike squads don't offer a lot. I should consider giving each a cannon in the future.
Also, my opponent was 5 pts over on his list, I just added back the Singing Spear to my Jetseer and we were ready to roll.
Enemy list:
Reclusiarch
Death Company (10x), some power weapons
Death Company Dreadnought (Blood Talons, why the @#&% are those Troops... ?)
Scouts (5x, snipers)
Scouts (5x, snipers)
Terminators (7x), some Th/SS, some Lightning Claws
Furioso Dreadnought (Blood Fists)
2x Stormravens (both with Multi-meltas and another turret gun I'm forgetting)
First, let me apologize, I was so excited I was snapping pictures during all three games - only to find out that nearly all of them are blurred beyond being presentable. Therefore, I'll only subject you to the more demonstrative of them...
I used nearly the same list in all three games, find it here:
http://eldradhallett.blogspot.com/2013/10/making-eldar-army-list.html
Game 1 - 1505 pts, Eldar vs. Blood Angels.
http://eldradhallett.blogspot.com/2013/10/making-eldar-army-list.html
Game 1 - 1505 pts, Eldar vs. Blood Angels.
4'x4' table, Purge the Alien (2), Dawn of War (standard) deployment, No objectives, Night Fight.
(1 VP per unit destroyed, +1 VP for Linebreaker, Slay the Warlord, First Blood)
**This was a kick in the face, no Objectives. We both took a few units specifically for scoring. And while his Scouts have some utility beyond that, my two barebones Jetbike squads don't offer a lot. I should consider giving each a cannon in the future.
Also, my opponent was 5 pts over on his list, I just added back the Singing Spear to my Jetseer and we were ready to roll.
Enemy list:
Reclusiarch
Death Company (10x), some power weapons
Death Company Dreadnought (Blood Talons, why the @#&% are those Troops... ?)
Scouts (5x, snipers)
Scouts (5x, snipers)
Terminators (7x), some Th/SS, some Lightning Claws
Furioso Dreadnought (Blood Fists)
2x Stormravens (both with Multi-meltas and another turret gun I'm forgetting)
I rolled the Warlord Trait for my Jetseer instead of defaulting to Eldrad, and got the "Deep Strike doesn't scatter within 6" of the Warlord"
Blood Angels' Reclusiarch rolled "Opponent needs a 4+ for reserves." Ouch.
Blood Angels' Reclusiarch rolled "Opponent needs a 4+ for reserves." Ouch.
Eldrad - Scryer's Gaze, Precognition, Prescience, Doom
Jetseer - Guide, Invisibility, Hallucination
Warlocks - Fearless/-3 ld (Saim Hann, Alaitoc), +1/-1 St (Iyanden, Ulthwe), +1/-1 WS, I (Biel-Tan)
Only squishy troops on the table - risky. If I kill those first turn, I win. But if I don't, 1300+ points of angry Power Armor rain from the sky anywhere on the table, avoiding most of my fire and getting into assault ASAP.
Top of 1-
I lost the roll and chose to deploy/go first. True to form, my worthy opponent deployed two squads of Infiltrators (Scouts, snipers, in the balsa wood and the ruin behind the colosseum) and nothing else.
Scouts plinked away, the nearer squad stripped a wound from my Jetseer (bad! I hadn't moved, and so got no Jink/Mantle 2+ re-rollable save. So, he was a sitting duck and down to two wounds).
Bottom of 1-
The Serpent and Jetseer moved up enough to wail on the Scouts, took out 6/10, some from both squads, both made leadership. Guardian blob moved up, Falcon moved up, Seer Council deployed to be able to cast powers. Notably, I granted the Guardian unit the 4++ invul.
Top of 2-
Death from above! Stormraven 1 arrives from the sky and wipes the table with my Serpent in one round (First Blood to the Blood Angels). The scouts shoot again, but this time do no damage. The nearer of the two scout squads gets gutsy and assaults my Jetseer.
Death from above! Stormraven 1 arrives from the sky and wipes the table with my Serpent in one round (First Blood to the Blood Angels). The scouts shoot again, but this time do no damage. The nearer of the two scout squads gets gutsy and assaults my Jetseer.
Flyer with a multi-melta, don't even get me started on that hot mess...
Bottom of 2-
Revenge time! Crimson Hunter and both Jetbike squads arrived (thanks to Scryer's Gaze! But Spiders still didn't) and the Seer Council was easily into range. Psychic powers flew across the table (Seer Council Guided, Guardians hit with Prescience for the 4++ Invul. save) and one squad of Jetbikes counter-assaulted the scout squad in combat. My hail of fire kills the Stormraven (YES! I hate those things!) and a squad of Death Company plus a Death Company furioso (with Blood Talons) falls out. A few Death Company actually fail armor and Feel No Pain saves and leave the table. Guardians and Seer Council Battle Focus away.
Jetseer kills one scout, they pass leadership.
*Rules note: We forgot that it was a flyer, and not all of my to-hits were 6s. That said, we also didn't remember that "Explodes!" for a flying transport does an S10 hit on each model embarked, plus it ignores armor. We just rolled a normal S4 hit on each member and a glance on the Dread. One or two Death Company died. Between both rules messed up, we called it a wash.
Bottom of 4-
Psychic Powers time! I Doomed the two surviving Death Company, and hit Eldrad with Prescience and Invisibility (heh). The Jetseer moved away from the Terminators, but hit them with Hallucination, for "You! You're the Traitor!" forcing them to kill a couple of their own number. I was feeling generous, so I allowed him to allocate the wounds himself, meaning he could protect his Sanguinary Priest. My Spiders shot, and magically managed to kill a couple more of them, then fled at Jet Pack speed (not Warp Jump, to avoid the risk of losing one to the Warp).
The Death Company had a hard time hitting Eldrad, and he saved the few wounds that got through, and then promptly destroyed them (Prescience > Guide, as it allows re-rolls in CC).
Top of 5-
The Stormraven and surviving Dreadnought focus on killing the Jetbike squads, and do so with tragic efficiency. The Terminators charge my Spiders, and I kill one in Overwatch (boo-yah!) and lose only one in the ensuing Melee (which was nothing short of miraculous).
At the end of combat, my Spiders Hit & Run (which they have by default now, boo-yah!) and escaped.
Bottom of 5-
Spiders ran towards my table edge, nearly out of range of the Terminators, and fire some pot-shots at the Stormraven. I'm hoping for final turn, so I mostly consolidate. At this point we ran the numbers, we were tied with Kill Points, and with my Slay the Warlord to his First Blood.
At the end of this turn, we rolled, and went on to turn 6!
Top of 6-
The Stormraven flew over my Warp Spiders back towards Eldrad, the Jetseer, and the Falcon. It was still in Hover mode so it could turn more effectively, but was able to splatter my Falcon across the board. It also ended it's move just on my deployment zone, allowing for Linebreaker if the game ended there. That gave the Blood Angels one more Kill Point, and Linebreaker for a two-point lead.
The Terminators came around the corner and once again charged my Warp Spiders, who (almost magically) killed one in Overwatch, and then killed another in combat (which WAS magical!)
The Spiders manages to get away with only one more casualty (nothing short of a miracle) and escaped combat.
Bottom of 6-
This was a crucial moment. I was down to my Jetseer, five Spiders, and Eldrad. I was down two Victory Points, and facing Terminators and another Dreadnought, plus the Stormraven practically up my nose.
I had to get another kill point ASAP, and while the Dreadnought was vulnerable, he had AV 13, and I only had so many shots. The Stormraven was right there - I moved the Spiders back, hit the Stormraven with Doom, buffed the Spiders with Prescience and Invisibility, then smacked the Terminators with Hallucination, again rolling "You! You're the Traitor!" (which I believe I rolled every time I cast the power that game...) and again, causing them to kill one of their own.
Then, I unloaded every one of the few guns I had left on the Stormraven, and brought it down. It exploded, but all of my units (and it hit everyone) made their saves.
Revenge time! Crimson Hunter and both Jetbike squads arrived (thanks to Scryer's Gaze! But Spiders still didn't) and the Seer Council was easily into range. Psychic powers flew across the table (Seer Council Guided, Guardians hit with Prescience for the 4++ Invul. save) and one squad of Jetbikes counter-assaulted the scout squad in combat. My hail of fire kills the Stormraven (YES! I hate those things!) and a squad of Death Company plus a Death Company furioso (with Blood Talons) falls out. A few Death Company actually fail armor and Feel No Pain saves and leave the table. Guardians and Seer Council Battle Focus away.
Jetseer kills one scout, they pass leadership.
*Rules note: We forgot that it was a flyer, and not all of my to-hits were 6s. That said, we also didn't remember that "Explodes!" for a flying transport does an S10 hit on each model embarked, plus it ignores armor. We just rolled a normal S4 hit on each member and a glance on the Dread. One or two Death Company died. Between both rules messed up, we called it a wash.
Top of 3-
The *other* Stormaven rolls in and splatters my Crimson Hunter. Some shooting from the Death Company pistols and the Stormraven take out a few Warlocks from the Seer Council (4++ is nice, but massed fire takes a toll fast). Death Company and Furioso Dreadnought haul arse and come after me. Dreadnought makes charge range and hammers into my Guardians. The Death Company fail their range, and take a pounding from the Seer Council. The Dreadnought wails on the Guardians, but I manage to lose only four (thank you 4++!) However, that means they lose combat and roll Ld. with the penalty to their leadership. They failed, and ran an epic 11" to go off the table... That's bad...
Bottom of 3-
My Spiders arrive at last, and the Falcon does some damage to the Death Company (all that AP2 is nice), at this point there really aren't many of them left, but I know from experience that three are still enough to wipe out anything I've got on the table. The Seer Council and Spiders together manage to immobilize the Death Company Dreadnought (score!) and drop it to one HP.
While it is nice to have knocked out the Dreadnought as an immediate threat, that was 14 S6 shots on its rear armor, and only two of them did any damage. That's what my spiders have been doing on the table all too often, and I need to support them with Doom when I can.
While it is nice to have knocked out the Dreadnought as an immediate threat, that was 14 S6 shots on its rear armor, and only two of them did any damage. That's what my spiders have been doing on the table all too often, and I need to support them with Doom when I can.
Top of 4-
The second Stormraven moved to the other side of the board to engage my Jetseer and Warp Spiders, and dropped the squad of Terminators (plus Sanguinary Priest) and second Dreadnought (Blood Fists). He chose to switch the Stormraven to Hover mode to have more control over movement, there isn't much anti-armor fire on the table left to worry about. The Death Company charge my Seer Council, and this time make charge range. My much-depleted overwatch (with only two surviving warlocks) fails to do anything. I have initiative, and hoping for a miracle, Eldrad challenges the Reclusiarch (as the Blood Angels player is gleefully counting dice for his ludicrous number of attacks...)
In a moment of pure beauty, Eldrad hits - and wounds - with both attacks. The Reclusiarch fails one save, and the Force weapon Eldrad now carries obliterates him utterly.
YES! ELDRAD FOR THE WIN! Fleshbane/AP3/Force is a wicked combo, a death-dealer for most of the Character models in the game (Slay the Warlord to the Eldar).
My two Warlocks, however, died messily.
**Rules note: there was some debate here about who won combat. I killed one model, he killed two models. But the question was whether or not those extra wounds on the Reclusiarch counted. And, beyond that, if the "undealt" wounds that my Warlocks weren't there to save count either. In the rules it says a Force weapon "reduces wounds to 0" but says nothing about how that works for combat resolution. The notes on which side wins combat were equally unhelpful. In the end I agreed to say I lost combat for a small penalty, not the -6 he was arguing for.
The second Stormraven moved to the other side of the board to engage my Jetseer and Warp Spiders, and dropped the squad of Terminators (plus Sanguinary Priest) and second Dreadnought (Blood Fists). He chose to switch the Stormraven to Hover mode to have more control over movement, there isn't much anti-armor fire on the table left to worry about. The Death Company charge my Seer Council, and this time make charge range. My much-depleted overwatch (with only two surviving warlocks) fails to do anything. I have initiative, and hoping for a miracle, Eldrad challenges the Reclusiarch (as the Blood Angels player is gleefully counting dice for his ludicrous number of attacks...)
In a moment of pure beauty, Eldrad hits - and wounds - with both attacks. The Reclusiarch fails one save, and the Force weapon Eldrad now carries obliterates him utterly.
YES! ELDRAD FOR THE WIN! Fleshbane/AP3/Force is a wicked combo, a death-dealer for most of the Character models in the game (Slay the Warlord to the Eldar).
My two Warlocks, however, died messily.
**Rules note: there was some debate here about who won combat. I killed one model, he killed two models. But the question was whether or not those extra wounds on the Reclusiarch counted. And, beyond that, if the "undealt" wounds that my Warlocks weren't there to save count either. In the rules it says a Force weapon "reduces wounds to 0" but says nothing about how that works for combat resolution. The notes on which side wins combat were equally unhelpful. In the end I agreed to say I lost combat for a small penalty, not the -6 he was arguing for.
I found the Psychic Cards invaluable for marking which squads had which powers cast on them at the time, it was a really handy reminder and saved a lot of those "What did I give them... ?" moments.
Bottom of 4-
Psychic Powers time! I Doomed the two surviving Death Company, and hit Eldrad with Prescience and Invisibility (heh). The Jetseer moved away from the Terminators, but hit them with Hallucination, for "You! You're the Traitor!" forcing them to kill a couple of their own number. I was feeling generous, so I allowed him to allocate the wounds himself, meaning he could protect his Sanguinary Priest. My Spiders shot, and magically managed to kill a couple more of them, then fled at Jet Pack speed (not Warp Jump, to avoid the risk of losing one to the Warp).
The Death Company had a hard time hitting Eldrad, and he saved the few wounds that got through, and then promptly destroyed them (Prescience > Guide, as it allows re-rolls in CC).
Bonus picture: Stormraven Techmarine Pilot. I don't have a picture of the final two turns, but I was proud of how this paint job came out. I asked to paint this Stormraven, and my friend kindly allowed me to
Top of 5-
The Stormraven and surviving Dreadnought focus on killing the Jetbike squads, and do so with tragic efficiency. The Terminators charge my Spiders, and I kill one in Overwatch (boo-yah!) and lose only one in the ensuing Melee (which was nothing short of miraculous).
At the end of combat, my Spiders Hit & Run (which they have by default now, boo-yah!) and escaped.
Bottom of 5-
Spiders ran towards my table edge, nearly out of range of the Terminators, and fire some pot-shots at the Stormraven. I'm hoping for final turn, so I mostly consolidate. At this point we ran the numbers, we were tied with Kill Points, and with my Slay the Warlord to his First Blood.
At the end of this turn, we rolled, and went on to turn 6!
Top of 6-
The Stormraven flew over my Warp Spiders back towards Eldrad, the Jetseer, and the Falcon. It was still in Hover mode so it could turn more effectively, but was able to splatter my Falcon across the board. It also ended it's move just on my deployment zone, allowing for Linebreaker if the game ended there. That gave the Blood Angels one more Kill Point, and Linebreaker for a two-point lead.
The Terminators came around the corner and once again charged my Warp Spiders, who (almost magically) killed one in Overwatch, and then killed another in combat (which WAS magical!)
The Spiders manages to get away with only one more casualty (nothing short of a miracle) and escaped combat.
Bottom of 6-
This was a crucial moment. I was down to my Jetseer, five Spiders, and Eldrad. I was down two Victory Points, and facing Terminators and another Dreadnought, plus the Stormraven practically up my nose.
I had to get another kill point ASAP, and while the Dreadnought was vulnerable, he had AV 13, and I only had so many shots. The Stormraven was right there - I moved the Spiders back, hit the Stormraven with Doom, buffed the Spiders with Prescience and Invisibility, then smacked the Terminators with Hallucination, again rolling "You! You're the Traitor!" (which I believe I rolled every time I cast the power that game...) and again, causing them to kill one of their own.
Then, I unloaded every one of the few guns I had left on the Stormraven, and brought it down. It exploded, but all of my units (and it hit everyone) made their saves.
This is how the board looked at the end of the game
We rolled again, and the game ended, ending in a tie. Close game, ended on a close tie. I got very, VERY lucky. Had he switched which squad dropped where, I would have lost horribly. Had either of those Stormravens had Hurricane Bolters or Assault Cannons, I probably would have lost. The Blood Angels player in the end said that he had written the list preparing to handle an Avatar or Wraithlord, which he assumed I would take (because I usually do), and so took more heavier guns with fewer shots.
Maybe next time, to mix it up, I'll bring the list that has three Wraithlords and see how that goes :D
Losing my Guardian blob hurt - they were there to rain death down on Infantry squads I knew I would be facing, having them totally shut down by one of those danged assault Dreadnoughts is infuriating. I would have been better served taking two squads of ten. It also left me at a serious disadvantage against the Death Company and Dreadnoughts that I'd taken them to counter. I was very lucky to have managed to handle both of those squads so well.
Even when I win, Blood Angels have such ridiculous units and rules that I almost feel like I lost just by having had to face them - Terminators with Feel No Pain, a Deadnought blender that can wipe out any infantry unit of any size (it also happens to be a Troops choice, although non-scoring, have Fleet, Rage, Front AV13, and ignore Stunned/Shaken results. Really?), and a Flyer Transport that can carry a full-sized infantry squad plus a Dreadnought - AND, is one of the only things in the game that can move more than 6" and still deploy them (granted, they can die in the process, but it's a slim chance) AND, it's an assault vehicle. What?! Something like that, which all Space Marines now have access to, should cost a heck of a lot more than it does.
They are very vulnerable, luckily, to Psychic powers. That showed in this game, but if he brings a Librarian into the fight next time, I could have a lot more trouble.
Harrumph.
Maybe next time, to mix it up, I'll bring the list that has three Wraithlords and see how that goes :D
Losing my Guardian blob hurt - they were there to rain death down on Infantry squads I knew I would be facing, having them totally shut down by one of those danged assault Dreadnoughts is infuriating. I would have been better served taking two squads of ten. It also left me at a serious disadvantage against the Death Company and Dreadnoughts that I'd taken them to counter. I was very lucky to have managed to handle both of those squads so well.
Even when I win, Blood Angels have such ridiculous units and rules that I almost feel like I lost just by having had to face them - Terminators with Feel No Pain, a Deadnought blender that can wipe out any infantry unit of any size (it also happens to be a Troops choice, although non-scoring, have Fleet, Rage, Front AV13, and ignore Stunned/Shaken results. Really?), and a Flyer Transport that can carry a full-sized infantry squad plus a Dreadnought - AND, is one of the only things in the game that can move more than 6" and still deploy them (granted, they can die in the process, but it's a slim chance) AND, it's an assault vehicle. What?! Something like that, which all Space Marines now have access to, should cost a heck of a lot more than it does.
They are very vulnerable, luckily, to Psychic powers. That showed in this game, but if he brings a Librarian into the fight next time, I could have a lot more trouble.
Harrumph.
But enough of that, it was an excellent game, and I am very pleased that my list turned out to be as effective as it did!
And, I see why people do video Battle Reps, this whole written thing takes a long time. I've got another two more reports to go, so stay tuned!
And, I see why people do video Battle Reps, this whole written thing takes a long time. I've got another two more reports to go, so stay tuned!
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