Hello Folks!
I've just played four games that I have, thus far, not written about. These will be quick & dirty summaries to make sure I get through it all. I'll give a quick overview of the lists and scenario, then some highlights/lowlights and an overview of the score. I'll probably add more detail over time as I find my notes. Hopefully this is informative, don't hesitate to ask any questions about how moves were made, etc.
So! Here's a quick run-down of all four of them. In a short summary, they were:
1850 pts., Eldar vs. Imperial Guard/Daemon Allies (Guard were modeled as Traitors)
1850 pts., Eldar vs. Space Wolves/Eldar Allies (that was a weird one...)
1850 pts., Eldar vs. Tau
1850 pts., Eldar vs. Blood Angels (Death Company)
First, the local tournament games-
I'm still smarting from a fairly rough day at this monthly tournament, every time I go I do a little bit better, but find myself completely shut down at least once by some *crazy* army list.
(Side note on the local tourney, we had too many players. Who has that problem? It was the coolest, yet most frustrating, problem we could have had as we quickly scrambled for more tables and other places to put them)
GAME ONE
First game, 1850 pts., Eldar vs. Imperial Guard/Daemon Allies
My Eldar Army list:
ELDAR
Farseer (Jetbike, Mantle of the Laughing God, Stone of Anath'Lan) *Warlord
Eldrad
Warlocks (5x, Singing Spears)
9x Windrider Jetbikes (3x Cannons, Squad of 3, Squad of 6)
20x Guardian Defenders (2x Bright Lances, 2 Squads of 10x)
Wave Serpent (Bright Lances, Holofields)
Dark Reapers (5x, Starshots)
Striking Scorpions (10x, Exarch, Scorpion's Claw)
Crimson Hunter (Exarch)
Warp Spiders (7x)
*Jetseer - Psychic Shriek, Dominate, Puppet Master (Warlord: once/game, +Stealth within 12")
*Eldrad - Guide, Prescience, Doom, Foreboding
*Warlocks - Protect/Jinx, Enhance/Drain, Embolden/Horrify, Quicken/Restrain (2x)
His Imperial Guard/Chaos Daemons Army list:
IMPERIAL GUARD (Primary)
Castellan Creed *Warlord
Command Squad (5x, 2x meltaguns)
Heavy Weapons Team (3x guns, Autocannon, Heavy Bolter, Lascannon)
Guardsmen blobs (10-ish guys, meltagun, 1x beefed up Company Commander)
Marbo
Ratlings (5x, Snipers)
3x Kasrkin Squad (6x)
Chimaera (Flamer)
Storm Troopers (10x, 2x Meltaguns)
Deathstrike
CHAOS DAEMONS (Allies)
Bloodthirster (wings)
10x Bloodletters (Banner)
10x Bloodletters
7x Khorne Hounds
7x Khorne Hounds
*Please forgive any list errors here, I'm not very familiar with IG or Daemons, and I'm going on memory. This is roughly it, though. The squad I'm calling "Storm Troopers" Deep-struck behind my lines, though I'm not sure that squad can do that.
Mission: Relic, Dawn of War Deployment
Custom scenario - In addition to the Relic, there were Kill Points (1 per unit destroyed) and we each had a Generator to defend, defending it netted 2 points, destroying an opponent's netted 5 pts. Also, one point added for Linebreaker, Slay the Warlord, and First Blood.
Deployment:
I deployed aggressively, with my Seer Council, one squad of Jetbikes, Wave Serpent and Scorpions as close as possible to the center of the board. Reapers and the second squad of Guardians and Jetbikes deployed in a building with my Generator. The Spiders I re-deployed, with my Jetseer, to be right on front of the flamer Chimaera, but out of LoS in a ruin.
I rolled to deploy/go first, but took full advantage of Eldrad's re-deploy D3+1 units ability.
He deployed a fairly standard gun-line, with his Generator in a building and one of the Guardsmen blobs on the roof. Creed he deployed dead-center in a ruined building, while both the Weapons team and the C. Commander blob deployed behind ruins on either side, the Ratlings infiltrated to a ruin on the center of the far edge of the table, backed by the Deathstrike missile, while the Chimaera full of Kasrkin deployed in the opposite corner. He also deployed his first unit of Khorne Hounds all up in my business in the center of the board.
In summary:
He did not seize, we rolled that Night Fight did not happen.
*A note here, this guy was a new player, but very well-versed in the rules, and he'd put together a pretty awesome list. I really enjoyed playing across the table from him, and didn't feel bad at all about how the match ended up.
Turn 1.
My Spiders took out the Chimaera (First Blood to Eldar) and pinned the Kasrkin inside, My Scorpions charged his Khorne Hounds (fingers seriously crossed) and nearly killed them outright. One unit of Bikes moved up to charge his Ratlings, while my Wave Serpent ran up the edge of the board to threaten the Deathstrike, but fired on the Heavy Weapons instead, pinning them. One unit of Guardians (center) got the 4++ from a Divination power cast by Eldrad. The Jetseer Psychic Shrieked and Dominated and Puppet Mastered all over the board. Guided Reapers wiped out the center Kasrkin squad.
He did some counter-firing, sniping a few Guardians and wasting fire on my Jetseer, who made all of his saves. Pinned Weapons Team and Kasrkin snap-fired and missed. My Scorpions finished off the Khorne Hounds in the combat phase.
Turn 2.
Crimson Hunter didn't arrive, Serpent moved up and glanced the Deathstrike. Spiders wiped out the squad that had come out of the Chimaera. Scorpions moved up and assaulted the large blob, neither of us challenged. He lost nearly all of his dudes, but made his Ld and didn't run. Small Bike squad sneaked up behind the Ratlings. Wave Serpent knocked the Deathstrike down to 1 HP. Jetseer Dominates & Puppet Master's the Weapons Team, making them take out one of Creed's Command Squad.
Khorne Hounds and 1x squad of Bloodletters (with the Banner), and the Storm Troopers arrive in my back-field (Bloodthirster, second Bloodletter squad, Marbo still in reserve). Very little shooting happened, Deathstrike did not go off (that was good!), Storm Troopers shot at my Guardians point-blank and killed a couple, Scorpions finished off the Guardsmen unit.
Turn 3.
Crimson Hunter still didn't arrive, the both Guardian squads, Jetbikes, Seer Council, and Spiders all pulled back to tackle the Khorne Hounds/Bloodletters. Hit the Bloodletters with Doom, Guardian squad with Guide. Small Jetbike squad got up behind the Ratlings. In shooting, the Jetseer again Dominated the Weapons Team, the Wave Serpent finished off the Deathstrike, combined shooting both Guardian squads, 6x Jetbikes, Seer Council, and Spiders dropped the Bloodletters and Hounds down to a few models each. Reapers dropped the Storm Troopers down to one model (made his Ld.). Scorpions assaulted Creed (who killed one in Overwatch) and wiped out his entire unit (Slay the Warlord to Eldar). The six-man Jetbike unit charged the remaining Bloodletters (I knew they were going to charge and wanted them dead, Jetbikes were my most expendable unit, and with the Bloodletters Doomed I thought they had a chance) and wiped them out. Huzzah! Smaller Jetbike squad beat up the Ratlings (which, honestly I felt a little bad about...)
In his turn, Marbo and the other unit of Bloodletters arrived. In shooting, Marbo used his super-bomb to drop my Scorpions down to four models, killing the Exarch, and Deep-Struck his Bloodletters directly onto the Relic (!) and rolled a spot-on for his scatter (or lack thereof). His Khorne Hounds charged my Seer Council, hoping for Slay the Warlord, but Eldrad calmly beat them back, killing all but one by himself (Eldrad!)
At this point, we were told that games were taking too long and we had to finish the current turn and call it.
In Kill Points, we were about even. When the dust settled neither of us was holding our Generator, but neither of us had had it destroyed either. I had Slay the Warlord, First Blood, and (thanks to my Jetseer) Linebreaker. He, thanks to his brilliant move with the Bloodletters, had the Relic. Our final spread was 6 points Eldar, 7 points IG/Daemons, granting him a narrow victory.
However, because of the rules of the tournament, a less that 2-point victory counted as a tie - which we were both ok with, it was a great game. I think I would have won had we gone on to turn 4, but with that Bloodthirster in the mix, who knows?
We shook hands with smiles on our faces and went on to our next battles!
GAME TWO
My Eldar Army List:
ELDAR
See above
*Jetseer - Psychic Shriek, Invisibility, Dominate (Warlord: no Deep Strike scatter within 6")
*Eldrad - Prescience, Forewarning, Perfect Timing, Doom
*Warlocks - Protect/Jinx (2x), Enhance/Drain, Embolden/Horrify (2x)
His Space Wolves/Eldar Army list:
SPACE WOLVES (Primary)
Rune Priest on Bike (w/Chooser of the Slain)
Grey Hunters (10x, Plasma Gun)
Grey Hunters (10x, Missile Launcher)
Grey Hunters (10x, Meltagun)
Long Fangs (Missile Launchers)
Long Fangs (Missile Launchers)
Sternguard (Combi-Meltas)
Drop Pod (Deathwind Launcher)
ELDAR (Allies)
Spiritseer
Wave Serpent (Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Wave Serpent (Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Dire Avengers (10x)
Dire Avengers (10x)
Wraithknight
The Scenario was Kill Points with one Objective each, plus bonus objectives.
I rolled to go first, Night-Fighting was in effect.
This game was... Bad. In a lot of ways. It was a weird match-up (Eldar fighting against Eldar with SPACE WOLVES? Don't even get me started), it was Long-Table without much cover (and I play a largely short-range Eldar army), my opponent was nice enough, but he was a power gamer who played quick and dirty with the rules, and had to be corrected often. It started looking funky when I initially chose to deploy on his side, but he clearly didn't hear me, so I let it slide and deployed on the other side.
Worst of all, I rolled *terribly,* and he Seized the Initiative (...)
Then I saw the gun line he had setup on long-table. Then he placed the Chooser of the Slain at the end of his deployment smack-dab in the middle of the board, preventing my Scorpions from Infiltrating anywhere near him.
**In hindsight, I should have Outflanked them after that, but I grumbled and hoped for good Run rolls in my first few turns
I'll keep this report brief, because he rolled Seize the Initiative, and the game was essentially over. He used Drop Pod Assault to bring in his one Drop Pod, full of Sternguard Veterans. He dropped them right in front of my Jetseer (who, having not moved yet, had no Jink save).
**I screwed up here, after the Drop Pod landed, his Sternguard moved. On arrival from Deep Strike, a unit cannot move (BRB, page 36). He wouldn't have had range with those Sternguard.
The Sternguard used their combi-meltas to really nail the Jetseer, and although he made some saves, he failed two, and the S8 meltas caused Instant Death (First Blood and Slay the Warlord to the Wolves, plus one Kill Point, and another bonus point for getting First Blood and Slay the Warlord in the same kill).
He then proceeded to kill my Wave Serpent, four of my Dark Reapers, and a Warlock.
In the picture above, Eldrad stands as the last member of the Seer Council, and killed half of the Dire Avengers who charged him, just because, before being brought down.
One thing stands out about the end of the game, I had the opportunity to rush my Jetbikes to my home Objective (which he was holding) and contest it, denying him the "Massacre" bonus victory points for a wide enough victory margin. But, that felt vindictive, so instead I charged his Rune Priest with my bikes in a moment of glory - in which they were annihilated.
In the end, I was nearly tabled, boasting only the Crimson Hunter and a paltry three Scorpions left on the table.
Nobody likes to lose, but this game in particular left a sour taste in my mouth. It was a Power List that threw fluff to the wind (which is legal, but lame) and a player who wasn't fun to play with. He cheated, or tried to, often - I don't think on purpose, but it was still there - and just shut me down utterly. I also rolled so badly it still boggles my mind, four Perils in one game (!?) and failing four 3+ saves in a single roll to save my Reapers.
I had to leave after that game anyway rather than finish the Tournament, but it would have been nice to end on a better note. But, let it be a lesson to me to improve my list.
Some bright spots in the list though - the Warlocks, even with a few of them killed before they had a chance, were still rockstars. I dropped the Ld. and armor save on Grey Hunters all over the place, making them much more vulnerable targets for everything else. The Guardian Jetbike unit of six also had a good game, taking on one unit of Grey Hunters solo at range and in assault. Eldrad, again, was a beast in combat, and did more wounds by himself than any of my other units in the army. Fleshbane with AP3 is a wicked combo.
The general conclusion of the day? Always tweak your list, always play as if you're going to get Seized on, and sometimes you're going to have an off-day. Because Chaos is fickle, and anything with dice is at least a minor agent of Chaos.
**It also became very clear here that my list needed serious tweaking. I liked it, it had potential, but it just wasn't good enough to have a single Wave Serpent. I also needed to work on my deployment - Outlanking when I couldn't Infiltrate especially.
GAME THREE
1850 points, Eldar vs. Tau
"The Emperor's Will" (...with two Xenos armies, we got a kick out of that!)
*Emperor's Will is one Objective per army, 3 pts each, in each player's Deployment Zone, (with Linebreaker, Slay the Warlord and First Blood)
Dawn of War Deployment, YES Night-Fight
My Eldar Army List:
ELDAR
Farseer (Jetbike, Mantle of the Laughing God, Stone of Anath'Lan) *Warlord
Eldrad
Warlocks (5x, Singing Spears)
6x Windrider Jetbikes (2x Squads of 3)
20x Guardian Defenders (2x Scatter Lasers, 2 Squads of 10x)
Wave Serpent (Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Wave Serpent (Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Dark Reapers (5x, Starshots)
Striking Scorpions (7x, Exarch, Scorpion's Claw)
Crimson Hunter (Exarch)
Warp Spiders (8x)
*Jetseer - Dominate, Puppet Master, Psychic Shriek (Warlord: +1" Run move)
*Eldrad - Guide, Fortune, Eldritch Storm, Death Mission
*Warlocks - Enhance/Drain (3x), Protect/Jinx, Embolden/Horrify
His Tau Army List:
TAU
Tau Commander (mix of drones, Drone Controller, Puretide Engram Chip...) *Warlord
Drone Squadron (mix of missiles, shields and Markerlights)
Ethereal
Fire Warriors (10x)
Fire Warriors (10x, Cadre Fireblade)
Pathfinders (10x)
Pathfinders (10x)
Riptide (2x Drones, "blast gun")
Hammerhead (Longstrike, Rail Cannon)
Broadsides (3x, Rail Cannons, Intercept, Skyfire)
Battle Suits (3x, Burst Cannons, full drones)
Battle Suits (3x, Plasma guns, full drones)
I won the roll to go first and was not seized on (huzzah!) meaning I really did get to go first. I deployed and played very aggressively, charging right at him with just about everything I had. He deployed aggressively as well, but made great use of cover and spread well. the Pathfinders deployed in ruins on either side of the table, with easy range to the center. One squad was backed by the Fireblade's Fire Warrior unit, the other was backed by Longstrike. The Broadsides, Ethereal, and second unit of Fire Warriors he put in the center, also in ruins.
Turn 1
The last time we'd played, I made the mistake of pouring tons of fire into his heavier units and wasting a lot of shots (Longstrike and Broadsides tanking most of it). This game, my Tau opponent was surprised to see me tackle his Infantry first. My Reapers cut apart the Ethereal's Fire Warrior unit, while my Seer Council, Spiders, and Jetseer dropped the first Pathfinder squad down to three models (who ran) and the Wave Serpents and Scorpions with their pistols dropped the other Pathfinder unit down to one model (who stayed).
The running Pathfinders failed to Rally, but the Fireblade's Fire Warrior squad took their place in the ruin and fired back, killing three of my Warlocks (despite Fortune, ouch!). Longstrike killed two Scorpions, the rest made their saves.
*Tactics note: Tau's greatest strength is (I was surprised to find out) their Infantry. Especially Markerlight-equipped Pathfinders. All of their Infantry is the secret glue that holds their army together - focus on them as much as possible before taking on the beefier targets.
Turn 2
Crimson Hunter arrives, takes some pot-shots at Longstrike, does one HP and stuns him. Reapers wiped out the Ethereal's Fire Warriors and put one wound on him (he promptly hid), First Blood to the Eldar. My Spiders and Wave Serpents poured fire into the Broadsides in cover, killing them in a single round (woo!) my Jetseer hit the remaining Fire Warrior squad with Dominate (forgetting that the Fireblade is Ld. 10) and Puppet Master, forcing the Fireblade to shoot one of the fleeing Pathfinders (forcing another Ld. test and causing them to run off the table) - I was out of range for Psychic Shriek. With Jetbike moves, I moved him back out of LoS.
In his turn, his reserves arrived as well (except for one unit of Battlesuits). The Commander with the Drone unit dropped right behind my Jetseer (a unit designed to kill him) and splattered him across the board (using the Commander's ability to pass up his own shooting to give his unit his BS and Ignores Cover). The Riptide and first unit of Battle Suits both arrived in my backfield, next to the Reapers. Longstrike shuffled a bit, fired Smart Missiles at the Scorpions and killed several. With Ld 10, the Fire Warriors easily passed their Dominate test and wailed on Eldrad and his remaining Warlocks. This was a great moment, Eldrad was in front having to save against 18 wounds. Even with Fortune, it looked bad.
But, then I proceeded to roll 18 dice and not a single one was below a three, even without the re-roll. Huzzah!
His Battlesuits dropped my reapers down to one model, the Riptide blasted away one of my Wave Serpents, and killed most of the Guardians inside.
Turn 3
Crimson Hunter does some fancy maneuvering to stay on the table. Eldrad and the Warlocks used Battle Focus to get in LoS with the Commander's unit (and out of LoS from the Fireblade's unit). Eldrad Guided the Spiders, Fortuned himself, while his Warlock bodyguard tried to cast Jinx on the Commander's unit (and died, rolling a double 6) Guided Spiders and surviving disembarked Guardians annihilated the Fire Warriors down to the Fireblade, Scorpions took out the last Pathfinder, my surviving Reaper, larger Guardian squad, and Wave Serpent wailed on the Battlesuit squad, killing all of their drones and putting one wound on a suit. My jetbikes zip out of cover and unload on the Commander's Drone unit. Then they assaulted. I wanted Eldrad and his last Warlock to assault as well, but they had already run (oops). Assault killed a lot of drones and two Jetbikes, four still stayed in combat.
In his turn, his other unit of Battlesuits arrived in his own mid-field, and promptly wiped out my Warp Spiders. His Riptide took out my last Reaper, his embattled first unit of Battlesuits wiped out my larger Guardian squad (then jumped behind cover), and Longstrike dropped my Scorpions down to three models (the Exarch survived). In our assault, he took out three more Jetbikes, so only one remained, but lost so many drones that he still lost combat, but held.
Turn 4
Crimson Hunter turns and shoots at Longstrike, failing to do anything (...) while the Scorpions move in on the now-cornered tank. My Wave Serpent pursued the Battle Suits behind their cover, exposing rear armor to the Riptide (fingers crossed). Eldrad Fortuned himself and Guided the few Guardians left, who killed the Fireblade in a lucky round of shooting with loads of 6s to wound. The Wave Serpent drops the Battlesuits down by two wounds, only two models left. Eldrad and the Warlock Assault the Commander, and kill nearly all of the surviving drones. The Commander strikes back at Eldrad, but does nothing.
In his turn, his large unit of Battlesuits took out my last Guardians, while the smaller unit Assaulted my Wave Serpent, and managed a glancing hit. The Riptide shot at my Crimson Hunter, but missed. In the Assault, the Commander was brought down by Eldrad (Slay the Warlord to Eldar)
Turn 5
Crimson Hunter went off the table, Wave Serpent killed all but one of the small Battlesuit unit, Eldrad and Warlock tried to get to the Riptide but got stuck behind a wall. Scorpions assaulted Longstrike and blew him up.
At the end of the game we had a fantastic dance for points. We'd each gotten Slay the Warlord, and I had a small unit of Scorpions in his Deployment Zone while he had several in mine, granting us both Linebreaker. I had also managed First Blood. (3 points to Eldar, 2 points to Tau)
In my final turn, my one surviving Jetbike blasted flat-out to land (just barely! Hoping we didn't go on to turn 6) on my home Objective, for a 3 point bonus and the lead.
In the Tau final turn, he pulled a brilliant denial - moving a unit of Battlesuits back as quickly as they could go and wiping out my Scorpions (removing my Linebreaker) and using the Riptides Smart Missiles to blow away my Jetbike without his cover. He only failed one save, but that was enough. I went from a four-point lead to a draw.
Final spread:
Tau - 2 (Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker)
Eldar - 2 (Slay the Warlord and First Blood)
A fairly epic tie, to wind down a very close game.
GAME FOUR
My Eldar Army list:
Farseer *Warlord
Dire Avengers (10x, Exarch, Power Weapon/Shimmershield)
Guardian Jetbikes (9x, 3x Squads of 3)
Fire Dragons (30x)
Wave Serpents (3x, Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Warp Spiders (8x)
Crimson Hunter (Exarch)
*Farseer - Guide, Prescience, Doom (Warlord: +1" run move)
His Blood Angels Army List:
Mephiston Lord of Death *Warlord
Scout Squad (5x, Snipers, Missile Launcher)
Scout Squad (5x, Snipers, Missile Launcher)
Terminators (6x, with Sanguinary Priest)
Stormraven (turret Lascannon, front Missile Launcher)
Furioso Dreadnought (Librarian)
Furioso Dreadnought
Death Company (10x, Death Company Tycho, Lemartes Guardian of the Lost)
Attack Bikes (3x, Heavy Bolters)
*Mephiston - Wings of Sanguinius, Unleash Rage, ...something else (Warlord: forgot to roll one)
*Furioso Librarian - Wings of Sanguinius
Emperor's Will (makes more sense this time), Vanguard Strike deployment, no Night Fight.
Blood Angels took the roll to go first, here was how our Deployment looked:
My objective is in the ruin in front of the "Wave Serpents" (pardon the Falcons), Blood Angels objective is in the ruin opposite. There's a unit of Scouts holding his, and another Scout squad in the small gray ruin on the top right of the picture.
In turn one, his scouts shot, killing two of my Jetbikes on the bottom center on the picture. Mephiston and the Furioso Dreadnought popped of Wings of Sangunius and sprinted for my deployment zone. My Wave Serpents responded by dropping the Scout unit holding his objective to one model (who happened to be the guy with the missile launcher), who promptly ran. My lone Jetbike jumped into the pocket of that styrofoam L on the bottom of the board.
Turn 2 (above), the dreaded Stormraven arrives (promptly killing on of my Wave Serpents, killing three Fire Dragons inside in the explosion. 27 Dragons to go!), as does the unit of Terminators. Those Attack Bikes proved their salt by tagging my Jetbikes through cover, and they failed their saves. Mephiston made assault range with one of my Jetbike units (a move I wasn't expecting) and slapped them around until they were dead. The Terminators stayed behind a wall where I couldn't see them, so they were out of the line of fire - for now...
My Crimson Hunter arrives, single penetrating hit on the Stormraven, stunning it. Spiders move up to engange the Attack Bikes. After losing the one Serpent, I promptly disembark the Dragons from the other two (modeled here as a mix of Dragons and Guardians). Dire Avengers with Prescience (just in case) shoot but fail to wound any of the Terminators (2+ saves...)
Turn 3 the Attack Bikes and Warp Spiders duked it out, I should have realized it was a bad match-up. They were out in the open, the Bikes had far better range, but I believed in my Spiders and their 3+ save and potential for AP1 wounds. First round of shooting between the two went to Blood Angels, and three Heavy Bolters took their toll on my poor Spiders (killing all but one). The Stunned Stormraven took some shots, but missed with everything. Terminators moved up cautiously, the second Scout squad ran to take the Blood Angels home objective, while Mephiston and the Furioso Dreadnought rushed in.
On a side note, the one missile-launcher scout rallies, then glues himself to the wall next to his objective.
Turn 3, Eldar turn. The Crimson Hunter flew off the table. Wave Serpents take out a bike and put a wound on another one, Crimson Hunter again stuns the Stormraven (1 HP left) then takes a sharp turn with Vector Dancer after firing, angling for the nearest table edge. Dragons move up their full distance, drop the Furioso Librarian and poor ol' Mephiston. Note the carnage below.
Turn 4, see below
In turn 4, the Stormraven moves up and Skies of Blood drops its Dreadnought and Death Company (plus Lemartes and Captain Tycho). The Dreadnought takes a glancing hit in the fall. Terminators move up to engage. He switched his Stormraven to Hover mode, and nailed my Wave Serpent with missiles, Immobilizing it. The Death Company unloads Bolt Pistols on the nearest unit of Dragons, killing several. His surviving Attack Bikes raced up to kill my last remaining Jetbike, eliminating my chances of contesting his objective in the last turn.
In my turn, I cast Prescience and Guide on two units of Dragons and move them up to get crazy, then I doomed the Death Company (redundant much?)
Still turn 4, this is the end of the Blood Angels turn. Note the Death Company under the wing, and the Furioso is behind it.
Eldar turn 4 This was a mixed turn (well, it was *amazing,* but not good enough). My Crimson Hunter returned and annihilated the Stormraven with three Penetrating hits (no "Explodes!" results). My Prescienced Dragons and Dire Avengers turned the Death Company into a red mist, killing all of them outright and putting one wound each on Lemartes and Tycho. Then the bad started, my other 17 Fire Dragons (ten of them Guided) blasted the little Terminator unit... And not a single one went down. Not a single roll under a 3 to save. Good GOD. One Wave Serpents unloads on the Attack Bikes, who make an ungodly number of saves (that was the theme this turn) and don't take a single wound. The trend was broken though, when my other Wave Serpent nearly wiped out the other scout squad.
Turn 5 (picture above is the end of turn 5) Attack Bikes zip up and fire on the rear armor of the only mobile Wave Serpent, but fail to damage it. The one lone Scout with the Missile Launcher peeks around the corner of his cover and takes a shot at my Crimson Hunter, but misses. Lemartes and Tycho charge one Dragon squad, Tycho takes another wound from Overwatch, but saves the other three (it was a good Overwatch). Terminators charge the only 10-man Dragon squad, the guided one, and take something like six wounds to Overwatch, but again make all of their saves. The lone survivor after the other nine Dragons fall, flees. The Furioso Dreadnought fails his charge range, even with the Fleet re-roll.
After the dust settles, the Terminators consolidate 6", and he lines them up between my Dire Avengers and the Objective, eliminating any change I'll get it.
On my turn, my Wave Serpents shoot, and one of them kills and Attack Bike (huzzah!), while my Dragons run behind the Terminators and blow up the Furioso Dreadnought (Doomed), while the Prescient Dire Avengers shoot everything at Tycho and Lemartes, who save everything. My lone Dragon rallies, but has to stay put and is out of range of anything.
So! At the end of Turn 5, I have Slay the Warlord and no objectives, while the Blood Angels have an objective, First Blood, and Linebreaker.
Eldar: 1
Blood Angels: 5
But! We rolled the die, and went on to turn 6!
Turn 6! Terminators and Tycho and Lemartes rush in and make a sad mess of my Dire Avengers and Farseer. It does not go well, as even a non-Farseer could predict.
In consolidation moves, Tycho and Lemartes menace my one lone Dragon, while the Terminators turn to face my other squad of six.
Ouch...
In my turn, my Crimson Hunter zooms up 36" on the dot to cross his deployment zone, and splatters that one Missile Launcher scout on the objective. My Wave Serpent takes out the remainder of the other Scout Squad (no more objective held! Woo!)
My six Dragons shoot at the Terminators, and one goes down (FINALLY), while the lone Dragon shoots Lemartes, who makes his save.
So, the picture above is the final spread. Tycho, Lemartes, five Terminators, and a single Attack Bike stand against the Crimson Hunter, two Wave Serpents, and seven Dragons. I also denied him the objective and had hoped for Linebreaker (only to learn that vehicles can't get Linebreaker, which I should have known).
Final point spread:
Eldar: 1
Blood Angels: 3
So I managed to snatch crushing defeat from unadulterated massacre, I'll take that. I have to admit that I was extraordinarily frustrated at this game - Terminators should not be able to take 3+ rounds of shooting from that many meltaguns and not take a *single* wound. That was ludicrous and stupid. My kingdom for the Divination power Misfortune! Also, this army was built to kill Terminators, Dreadnoughts and Death Company. Fire Dragons are the "If it absolutely has to die!" choice to tackle anything, and here they failed me. Badly.
But, it was comical how quickly Mephiston and those Dreadnoughts went down. And, this loss was in large part my fault, as I forgot (again) that Crimson Hunters re-roll to penetrate vs. Flyers. I could have dropped the Stormraven first turn and forced those late-game assault units to footslog across the board.
Then again, the way those Terminators took wounds, they didn't need any backup!
I suppose, in this case at least, the Emperor does indeed Protect.
I hope this was a fun read, I'll keep you posted on my next few games!
I've just played four games that I have, thus far, not written about. These will be quick & dirty summaries to make sure I get through it all. I'll give a quick overview of the lists and scenario, then some highlights/lowlights and an overview of the score. I'll probably add more detail over time as I find my notes. Hopefully this is informative, don't hesitate to ask any questions about how moves were made, etc.
So! Here's a quick run-down of all four of them. In a short summary, they were:
1850 pts., Eldar vs. Imperial Guard/Daemon Allies (Guard were modeled as Traitors)
1850 pts., Eldar vs. Space Wolves/Eldar Allies (that was a weird one...)
1850 pts., Eldar vs. Tau
1850 pts., Eldar vs. Blood Angels (Death Company)
Some sweet Inquisitor-Themed Grey Knights, never fought these guys, but they looked awesome on the table!
First, the local tournament games-
I'm still smarting from a fairly rough day at this monthly tournament, every time I go I do a little bit better, but find myself completely shut down at least once by some *crazy* army list.
(Side note on the local tourney, we had too many players. Who has that problem? It was the coolest, yet most frustrating, problem we could have had as we quickly scrambled for more tables and other places to put them)
GAME ONE
First game, 1850 pts., Eldar vs. Imperial Guard/Daemon Allies
My Eldar Army list:
ELDAR
Farseer (Jetbike, Mantle of the Laughing God, Stone of Anath'Lan) *Warlord
Eldrad
Warlocks (5x, Singing Spears)
9x Windrider Jetbikes (3x Cannons, Squad of 3, Squad of 6)
20x Guardian Defenders (2x Bright Lances, 2 Squads of 10x)
Wave Serpent (Bright Lances, Holofields)
Dark Reapers (5x, Starshots)
Striking Scorpions (10x, Exarch, Scorpion's Claw)
Crimson Hunter (Exarch)
Warp Spiders (7x)
*Jetseer - Psychic Shriek, Dominate, Puppet Master (Warlord: once/game, +Stealth within 12")
*Eldrad - Guide, Prescience, Doom, Foreboding
*Warlocks - Protect/Jinx, Enhance/Drain, Embolden/Horrify, Quicken/Restrain (2x)
His Imperial Guard/Chaos Daemons Army list:
IMPERIAL GUARD (Primary)
Castellan Creed *Warlord
Command Squad (5x, 2x meltaguns)
Heavy Weapons Team (3x guns, Autocannon, Heavy Bolter, Lascannon)
Guardsmen blobs (10-ish guys, meltagun, 1x beefed up Company Commander)
Marbo
Ratlings (5x, Snipers)
3x Kasrkin Squad (6x)
Chimaera (Flamer)
Storm Troopers (10x, 2x Meltaguns)
Deathstrike
CHAOS DAEMONS (Allies)
Bloodthirster (wings)
10x Bloodletters (Banner)
10x Bloodletters
7x Khorne Hounds
7x Khorne Hounds
*Please forgive any list errors here, I'm not very familiar with IG or Daemons, and I'm going on memory. This is roughly it, though. The squad I'm calling "Storm Troopers" Deep-struck behind my lines, though I'm not sure that squad can do that.
Mission: Relic, Dawn of War Deployment
Custom scenario - In addition to the Relic, there were Kill Points (1 per unit destroyed) and we each had a Generator to defend, defending it netted 2 points, destroying an opponent's netted 5 pts. Also, one point added for Linebreaker, Slay the Warlord, and First Blood.
Deployment:
I deployed aggressively, with my Seer Council, one squad of Jetbikes, Wave Serpent and Scorpions as close as possible to the center of the board. Reapers and the second squad of Guardians and Jetbikes deployed in a building with my Generator. The Spiders I re-deployed, with my Jetseer, to be right on front of the flamer Chimaera, but out of LoS in a ruin.
I rolled to deploy/go first, but took full advantage of Eldrad's re-deploy D3+1 units ability.
He deployed a fairly standard gun-line, with his Generator in a building and one of the Guardsmen blobs on the roof. Creed he deployed dead-center in a ruined building, while both the Weapons team and the C. Commander blob deployed behind ruins on either side, the Ratlings infiltrated to a ruin on the center of the far edge of the table, backed by the Deathstrike missile, while the Chimaera full of Kasrkin deployed in the opposite corner. He also deployed his first unit of Khorne Hounds all up in my business in the center of the board.
In summary:
He did not seize, we rolled that Night Fight did not happen.
*A note here, this guy was a new player, but very well-versed in the rules, and he'd put together a pretty awesome list. I really enjoyed playing across the table from him, and didn't feel bad at all about how the match ended up.
Turn 1.
My Spiders took out the Chimaera (First Blood to Eldar) and pinned the Kasrkin inside, My Scorpions charged his Khorne Hounds (fingers seriously crossed) and nearly killed them outright. One unit of Bikes moved up to charge his Ratlings, while my Wave Serpent ran up the edge of the board to threaten the Deathstrike, but fired on the Heavy Weapons instead, pinning them. One unit of Guardians (center) got the 4++ from a Divination power cast by Eldrad. The Jetseer Psychic Shrieked and Dominated and Puppet Mastered all over the board. Guided Reapers wiped out the center Kasrkin squad.
He did some counter-firing, sniping a few Guardians and wasting fire on my Jetseer, who made all of his saves. Pinned Weapons Team and Kasrkin snap-fired and missed. My Scorpions finished off the Khorne Hounds in the combat phase.
Turn 2.
Crimson Hunter didn't arrive, Serpent moved up and glanced the Deathstrike. Spiders wiped out the squad that had come out of the Chimaera. Scorpions moved up and assaulted the large blob, neither of us challenged. He lost nearly all of his dudes, but made his Ld and didn't run. Small Bike squad sneaked up behind the Ratlings. Wave Serpent knocked the Deathstrike down to 1 HP. Jetseer Dominates & Puppet Master's the Weapons Team, making them take out one of Creed's Command Squad.
Khorne Hounds and 1x squad of Bloodletters (with the Banner), and the Storm Troopers arrive in my back-field (Bloodthirster, second Bloodletter squad, Marbo still in reserve). Very little shooting happened, Deathstrike did not go off (that was good!), Storm Troopers shot at my Guardians point-blank and killed a couple, Scorpions finished off the Guardsmen unit.
Turn 3.
Crimson Hunter still didn't arrive, the both Guardian squads, Jetbikes, Seer Council, and Spiders all pulled back to tackle the Khorne Hounds/Bloodletters. Hit the Bloodletters with Doom, Guardian squad with Guide. Small Jetbike squad got up behind the Ratlings. In shooting, the Jetseer again Dominated the Weapons Team, the Wave Serpent finished off the Deathstrike, combined shooting both Guardian squads, 6x Jetbikes, Seer Council, and Spiders dropped the Bloodletters and Hounds down to a few models each. Reapers dropped the Storm Troopers down to one model (made his Ld.). Scorpions assaulted Creed (who killed one in Overwatch) and wiped out his entire unit (Slay the Warlord to Eldar). The six-man Jetbike unit charged the remaining Bloodletters (I knew they were going to charge and wanted them dead, Jetbikes were my most expendable unit, and with the Bloodletters Doomed I thought they had a chance) and wiped them out. Huzzah! Smaller Jetbike squad beat up the Ratlings (which, honestly I felt a little bad about...)
In his turn, Marbo and the other unit of Bloodletters arrived. In shooting, Marbo used his super-bomb to drop my Scorpions down to four models, killing the Exarch, and Deep-Struck his Bloodletters directly onto the Relic (!) and rolled a spot-on for his scatter (or lack thereof). His Khorne Hounds charged my Seer Council, hoping for Slay the Warlord, but Eldrad calmly beat them back, killing all but one by himself (Eldrad!)
At this point, we were told that games were taking too long and we had to finish the current turn and call it.
In Kill Points, we were about even. When the dust settled neither of us was holding our Generator, but neither of us had had it destroyed either. I had Slay the Warlord, First Blood, and (thanks to my Jetseer) Linebreaker. He, thanks to his brilliant move with the Bloodletters, had the Relic. Our final spread was 6 points Eldar, 7 points IG/Daemons, granting him a narrow victory.
However, because of the rules of the tournament, a less that 2-point victory counted as a tie - which we were both ok with, it was a great game. I think I would have won had we gone on to turn 4, but with that Bloodthirster in the mix, who knows?
We shook hands with smiles on our faces and went on to our next battles!
A very cool Tau Commander conversion, complete with attached Drone and armor made from pieces of slain Tyranids. This guy's entire army was themed on Battlesuit Brawlers armed with over-the-top CC weapons and bits of Tyranid Carapaces. I wish I had more pictures!
GAME TWO
My Eldar Army List:
ELDAR
See above
*Jetseer - Psychic Shriek, Invisibility, Dominate (Warlord: no Deep Strike scatter within 6")
*Eldrad - Prescience, Forewarning, Perfect Timing, Doom
*Warlocks - Protect/Jinx (2x), Enhance/Drain, Embolden/Horrify (2x)
His Space Wolves/Eldar Army list:
SPACE WOLVES (Primary)
Rune Priest on Bike (w/Chooser of the Slain)
Grey Hunters (10x, Plasma Gun)
Grey Hunters (10x, Missile Launcher)
Grey Hunters (10x, Meltagun)
Long Fangs (Missile Launchers)
Long Fangs (Missile Launchers)
Sternguard (Combi-Meltas)
Drop Pod (Deathwind Launcher)
ELDAR (Allies)
Spiritseer
Wave Serpent (Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Wave Serpent (Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Dire Avengers (10x)
Dire Avengers (10x)
Wraithknight
Long Table. How do I dislike thee? Let me count the ways...
The Scenario was Kill Points with one Objective each, plus bonus objectives.
I rolled to go first, Night-Fighting was in effect.
This game was... Bad. In a lot of ways. It was a weird match-up (Eldar fighting against Eldar with SPACE WOLVES? Don't even get me started), it was Long-Table without much cover (and I play a largely short-range Eldar army), my opponent was nice enough, but he was a power gamer who played quick and dirty with the rules, and had to be corrected often. It started looking funky when I initially chose to deploy on his side, but he clearly didn't hear me, so I let it slide and deployed on the other side.
Worst of all, I rolled *terribly,* and he Seized the Initiative (...)
Then I saw the gun line he had setup on long-table. Then he placed the Chooser of the Slain at the end of his deployment smack-dab in the middle of the board, preventing my Scorpions from Infiltrating anywhere near him.
**In hindsight, I should have Outflanked them after that, but I grumbled and hoped for good Run rolls in my first few turns
I'll keep this report brief, because he rolled Seize the Initiative, and the game was essentially over. He used Drop Pod Assault to bring in his one Drop Pod, full of Sternguard Veterans. He dropped them right in front of my Jetseer (who, having not moved yet, had no Jink save).
**I screwed up here, after the Drop Pod landed, his Sternguard moved. On arrival from Deep Strike, a unit cannot move (BRB, page 36). He wouldn't have had range with those Sternguard.
The Sternguard used their combi-meltas to really nail the Jetseer, and although he made some saves, he failed two, and the S8 meltas caused Instant Death (First Blood and Slay the Warlord to the Wolves, plus one Kill Point, and another bonus point for getting First Blood and Slay the Warlord in the same kill).
He then proceeded to kill my Wave Serpent, four of my Dark Reapers, and a Warlock.
This is where we say "Oh crap" and that nigh un-killable Jetbike Farseer Warlord is caught flat-footed and very, very squishy.
That first turn left me in a baaaaad way. I had hoped not to get seized on, of course, but with the table side I started on, there wasn't enough terrain to make much difference even if I had planned on going second. I had counted a lot on getting some licks in that first turn before getting splattered.
As it was though, I had deployed aggressively, and after taking that beating I played like I had nothing to lose. My Warp Spiders deep-struck behind his Serpents, destroying one and killing a lot of the Dire Avengers inside, then jumping back behind cover - then they died to counter-fire from the Avengers and some of the Long Fangs. My Guardian squads did a lot of damage, killing all but five of his Grey Hunters (out of thirty), I killed his Sternguard outright. My Crimson Hunter arrived late and handily took out the second Wave Serpent.
That was a large portion of his army, but when the dust settled I lost horribly. I even managed to Perils four times (that being on the powers the Rune Priest didn't cancel outright, which were few), losing two Warlocks and forcing Eldrad to spend Warp Charge points to not take two wounds. Not to mention I used Mind War for the first time (just because I was shooting, and Eldrad didn't have a gun) and *lost* to a random Grey Hunter, dropping Eldrad to BS/WS 1 on the turn the Council was charged. Garbage Psychic power.
That was a large portion of his army, but when the dust settled I lost horribly. I even managed to Perils four times (that being on the powers the Rune Priest didn't cancel outright, which were few), losing two Warlocks and forcing Eldrad to spend Warp Charge points to not take two wounds. Not to mention I used Mind War for the first time (just because I was shooting, and Eldrad didn't have a gun) and *lost* to a random Grey Hunter, dropping Eldrad to BS/WS 1 on the turn the Council was charged. Garbage Psychic power.
Last man standing: the mighty Eldrad, in combat with a proxied Wraithknight (what, you don't see it?), Dire Avengers, and two surviving Grey Hunters
In the picture above, Eldrad stands as the last member of the Seer Council, and killed half of the Dire Avengers who charged him, just because, before being brought down.
One thing stands out about the end of the game, I had the opportunity to rush my Jetbikes to my home Objective (which he was holding) and contest it, denying him the "Massacre" bonus victory points for a wide enough victory margin. But, that felt vindictive, so instead I charged his Rune Priest with my bikes in a moment of glory - in which they were annihilated.
In the end, I was nearly tabled, boasting only the Crimson Hunter and a paltry three Scorpions left on the table.
Nobody likes to lose, but this game in particular left a sour taste in my mouth. It was a Power List that threw fluff to the wind (which is legal, but lame) and a player who wasn't fun to play with. He cheated, or tried to, often - I don't think on purpose, but it was still there - and just shut me down utterly. I also rolled so badly it still boggles my mind, four Perils in one game (!?) and failing four 3+ saves in a single roll to save my Reapers.
I had to leave after that game anyway rather than finish the Tournament, but it would have been nice to end on a better note. But, let it be a lesson to me to improve my list.
Some bright spots in the list though - the Warlocks, even with a few of them killed before they had a chance, were still rockstars. I dropped the Ld. and armor save on Grey Hunters all over the place, making them much more vulnerable targets for everything else. The Guardian Jetbike unit of six also had a good game, taking on one unit of Grey Hunters solo at range and in assault. Eldrad, again, was a beast in combat, and did more wounds by himself than any of my other units in the army. Fleshbane with AP3 is a wicked combo.
The general conclusion of the day? Always tweak your list, always play as if you're going to get Seized on, and sometimes you're going to have an off-day. Because Chaos is fickle, and anything with dice is at least a minor agent of Chaos.
**It also became very clear here that my list needed serious tweaking. I liked it, it had potential, but it just wasn't good enough to have a single Wave Serpent. I also needed to work on my deployment - Outlanking when I couldn't Infiltrate especially.
GAME THREE
1850 points, Eldar vs. Tau
"The Emperor's Will" (...with two Xenos armies, we got a kick out of that!)
*Emperor's Will is one Objective per army, 3 pts each, in each player's Deployment Zone, (with Linebreaker, Slay the Warlord and First Blood)
Dawn of War Deployment, YES Night-Fight
My Eldar Army List:
ELDAR
Farseer (Jetbike, Mantle of the Laughing God, Stone of Anath'Lan) *Warlord
Eldrad
Warlocks (5x, Singing Spears)
6x Windrider Jetbikes (2x Squads of 3)
20x Guardian Defenders (2x Scatter Lasers, 2 Squads of 10x)
Wave Serpent (Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Wave Serpent (Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Dark Reapers (5x, Starshots)
Striking Scorpions (7x, Exarch, Scorpion's Claw)
Crimson Hunter (Exarch)
Warp Spiders (8x)
*Jetseer - Dominate, Puppet Master, Psychic Shriek (Warlord: +1" Run move)
*Eldrad - Guide, Fortune, Eldritch Storm, Death Mission
*Warlocks - Enhance/Drain (3x), Protect/Jinx, Embolden/Horrify
His Tau Army List:
TAU
Tau Commander (mix of drones, Drone Controller, Puretide Engram Chip...) *Warlord
Drone Squadron (mix of missiles, shields and Markerlights)
Ethereal
Fire Warriors (10x)
Fire Warriors (10x, Cadre Fireblade)
Pathfinders (10x)
Pathfinders (10x)
Riptide (2x Drones, "blast gun")
Hammerhead (Longstrike, Rail Cannon)
Broadsides (3x, Rail Cannons, Intercept, Skyfire)
Battle Suits (3x, Burst Cannons, full drones)
Battle Suits (3x, Plasma guns, full drones)
Turn 1
The last time we'd played, I made the mistake of pouring tons of fire into his heavier units and wasting a lot of shots (Longstrike and Broadsides tanking most of it). This game, my Tau opponent was surprised to see me tackle his Infantry first. My Reapers cut apart the Ethereal's Fire Warrior unit, while my Seer Council, Spiders, and Jetseer dropped the first Pathfinder squad down to three models (who ran) and the Wave Serpents and Scorpions with their pistols dropped the other Pathfinder unit down to one model (who stayed).
The running Pathfinders failed to Rally, but the Fireblade's Fire Warrior squad took their place in the ruin and fired back, killing three of my Warlocks (despite Fortune, ouch!). Longstrike killed two Scorpions, the rest made their saves.
*Tactics note: Tau's greatest strength is (I was surprised to find out) their Infantry. Especially Markerlight-equipped Pathfinders. All of their Infantry is the secret glue that holds their army together - focus on them as much as possible before taking on the beefier targets.
Crimson Hunter arrives, takes some pot-shots at Longstrike, does one HP and stuns him. Reapers wiped out the Ethereal's Fire Warriors and put one wound on him (he promptly hid), First Blood to the Eldar. My Spiders and Wave Serpents poured fire into the Broadsides in cover, killing them in a single round (woo!) my Jetseer hit the remaining Fire Warrior squad with Dominate (forgetting that the Fireblade is Ld. 10) and Puppet Master, forcing the Fireblade to shoot one of the fleeing Pathfinders (forcing another Ld. test and causing them to run off the table) - I was out of range for Psychic Shriek. With Jetbike moves, I moved him back out of LoS.
In his turn, his reserves arrived as well (except for one unit of Battlesuits). The Commander with the Drone unit dropped right behind my Jetseer (a unit designed to kill him) and splattered him across the board (using the Commander's ability to pass up his own shooting to give his unit his BS and Ignores Cover). The Riptide and first unit of Battle Suits both arrived in my backfield, next to the Reapers. Longstrike shuffled a bit, fired Smart Missiles at the Scorpions and killed several. With Ld 10, the Fire Warriors easily passed their Dominate test and wailed on Eldrad and his remaining Warlocks. This was a great moment, Eldrad was in front having to save against 18 wounds. Even with Fortune, it looked bad.
But, then I proceeded to roll 18 dice and not a single one was below a three, even without the re-roll. Huzzah!
His Battlesuits dropped my reapers down to one model, the Riptide blasted away one of my Wave Serpents, and killed most of the Guardians inside.
Crimson Hunter does some fancy maneuvering to stay on the table. Eldrad and the Warlocks used Battle Focus to get in LoS with the Commander's unit (and out of LoS from the Fireblade's unit). Eldrad Guided the Spiders, Fortuned himself, while his Warlock bodyguard tried to cast Jinx on the Commander's unit (and died, rolling a double 6) Guided Spiders and surviving disembarked Guardians annihilated the Fire Warriors down to the Fireblade, Scorpions took out the last Pathfinder, my surviving Reaper, larger Guardian squad, and Wave Serpent wailed on the Battlesuit squad, killing all of their drones and putting one wound on a suit. My jetbikes zip out of cover and unload on the Commander's Drone unit. Then they assaulted. I wanted Eldrad and his last Warlock to assault as well, but they had already run (oops). Assault killed a lot of drones and two Jetbikes, four still stayed in combat.
In his turn, his other unit of Battlesuits arrived in his own mid-field, and promptly wiped out my Warp Spiders. His Riptide took out my last Reaper, his embattled first unit of Battlesuits wiped out my larger Guardian squad (then jumped behind cover), and Longstrike dropped my Scorpions down to three models (the Exarch survived). In our assault, he took out three more Jetbikes, so only one remained, but lost so many drones that he still lost combat, but held.
Turn 4
Crimson Hunter turns and shoots at Longstrike, failing to do anything (...) while the Scorpions move in on the now-cornered tank. My Wave Serpent pursued the Battle Suits behind their cover, exposing rear armor to the Riptide (fingers crossed). Eldrad Fortuned himself and Guided the few Guardians left, who killed the Fireblade in a lucky round of shooting with loads of 6s to wound. The Wave Serpent drops the Battlesuits down by two wounds, only two models left. Eldrad and the Warlock Assault the Commander, and kill nearly all of the surviving drones. The Commander strikes back at Eldrad, but does nothing.
In his turn, his large unit of Battlesuits took out my last Guardians, while the smaller unit Assaulted my Wave Serpent, and managed a glancing hit. The Riptide shot at my Crimson Hunter, but missed. In the Assault, the Commander was brought down by Eldrad (Slay the Warlord to Eldar)
Turn 5
Crimson Hunter went off the table, Wave Serpent killed all but one of the small Battlesuit unit, Eldrad and Warlock tried to get to the Riptide but got stuck behind a wall. Scorpions assaulted Longstrike and blew him up.
At the end of the game we had a fantastic dance for points. We'd each gotten Slay the Warlord, and I had a small unit of Scorpions in his Deployment Zone while he had several in mine, granting us both Linebreaker. I had also managed First Blood. (3 points to Eldar, 2 points to Tau)
In my final turn, my one surviving Jetbike blasted flat-out to land (just barely! Hoping we didn't go on to turn 6) on my home Objective, for a 3 point bonus and the lead.
Final spread:
Tau - 2 (Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker)
Eldar - 2 (Slay the Warlord and First Blood)
A fairly epic tie, to wind down a very close game.
GAME FOUR
My Eldar Army list:
Farseer *Warlord
Dire Avengers (10x, Exarch, Power Weapon/Shimmershield)
Guardian Jetbikes (9x, 3x Squads of 3)
Fire Dragons (30x)
Wave Serpents (3x, Scatter Lasers, Holofields)
Warp Spiders (8x)
Crimson Hunter (Exarch)
*Farseer - Guide, Prescience, Doom (Warlord: +1" run move)
His Blood Angels Army List:
Mephiston Lord of Death *Warlord
Scout Squad (5x, Snipers, Missile Launcher)
Scout Squad (5x, Snipers, Missile Launcher)
Terminators (6x, with Sanguinary Priest)
Stormraven (turret Lascannon, front Missile Launcher)
Furioso Dreadnought (Librarian)
Furioso Dreadnought
Death Company (10x, Death Company Tycho, Lemartes Guardian of the Lost)
Attack Bikes (3x, Heavy Bolters)
*Mephiston - Wings of Sanguinius, Unleash Rage, ...something else (Warlord: forgot to roll one)
*Furioso Librarian - Wings of Sanguinius
Emperor's Will (makes more sense this time), Vanguard Strike deployment, no Night Fight.
Blood Angels took the roll to go first, here was how our Deployment looked:
In turn one, his scouts shot, killing two of my Jetbikes on the bottom center on the picture. Mephiston and the Furioso Dreadnought popped of Wings of Sangunius and sprinted for my deployment zone. My Wave Serpents responded by dropping the Scout unit holding his objective to one model (who happened to be the guy with the missile launcher), who promptly ran. My lone Jetbike jumped into the pocket of that styrofoam L on the bottom of the board.
Turn 2 (above), the dreaded Stormraven arrives (promptly killing on of my Wave Serpents, killing three Fire Dragons inside in the explosion. 27 Dragons to go!), as does the unit of Terminators. Those Attack Bikes proved their salt by tagging my Jetbikes through cover, and they failed their saves. Mephiston made assault range with one of my Jetbike units (a move I wasn't expecting) and slapped them around until they were dead. The Terminators stayed behind a wall where I couldn't see them, so they were out of the line of fire - for now...
My Crimson Hunter arrives, single penetrating hit on the Stormraven, stunning it. Spiders move up to engange the Attack Bikes. After losing the one Serpent, I promptly disembark the Dragons from the other two (modeled here as a mix of Dragons and Guardians). Dire Avengers with Prescience (just in case) shoot but fail to wound any of the Terminators (2+ saves...)
Turn 3 the Attack Bikes and Warp Spiders duked it out, I should have realized it was a bad match-up. They were out in the open, the Bikes had far better range, but I believed in my Spiders and their 3+ save and potential for AP1 wounds. First round of shooting between the two went to Blood Angels, and three Heavy Bolters took their toll on my poor Spiders (killing all but one). The Stunned Stormraven took some shots, but missed with everything. Terminators moved up cautiously, the second Scout squad ran to take the Blood Angels home objective, while Mephiston and the Furioso Dreadnought rushed in.
On a side note, the one missile-launcher scout rallies, then glues himself to the wall next to his objective.
Turn 3, Eldar turn. The Crimson Hunter flew off the table. Wave Serpents take out a bike and put a wound on another one, Crimson Hunter again stuns the Stormraven (1 HP left) then takes a sharp turn with Vector Dancer after firing, angling for the nearest table edge. Dragons move up their full distance, drop the Furioso Librarian and poor ol' Mephiston. Note the carnage below.
Turn 4, see below
In turn 4, the Stormraven moves up and Skies of Blood drops its Dreadnought and Death Company (plus Lemartes and Captain Tycho). The Dreadnought takes a glancing hit in the fall. Terminators move up to engage. He switched his Stormraven to Hover mode, and nailed my Wave Serpent with missiles, Immobilizing it. The Death Company unloads Bolt Pistols on the nearest unit of Dragons, killing several. His surviving Attack Bikes raced up to kill my last remaining Jetbike, eliminating my chances of contesting his objective in the last turn.
In my turn, I cast Prescience and Guide on two units of Dragons and move them up to get crazy, then I doomed the Death Company (redundant much?)
Still turn 4, this is the end of the Blood Angels turn. Note the Death Company under the wing, and the Furioso is behind it.
Eldar turn 4 This was a mixed turn (well, it was *amazing,* but not good enough). My Crimson Hunter returned and annihilated the Stormraven with three Penetrating hits (no "Explodes!" results). My Prescienced Dragons and Dire Avengers turned the Death Company into a red mist, killing all of them outright and putting one wound each on Lemartes and Tycho. Then the bad started, my other 17 Fire Dragons (ten of them Guided) blasted the little Terminator unit... And not a single one went down. Not a single roll under a 3 to save. Good GOD. One Wave Serpents unloads on the Attack Bikes, who make an ungodly number of saves (that was the theme this turn) and don't take a single wound. The trend was broken though, when my other Wave Serpent nearly wiped out the other scout squad.
Turn 5 (picture above is the end of turn 5) Attack Bikes zip up and fire on the rear armor of the only mobile Wave Serpent, but fail to damage it. The one lone Scout with the Missile Launcher peeks around the corner of his cover and takes a shot at my Crimson Hunter, but misses. Lemartes and Tycho charge one Dragon squad, Tycho takes another wound from Overwatch, but saves the other three (it was a good Overwatch). Terminators charge the only 10-man Dragon squad, the guided one, and take something like six wounds to Overwatch, but again make all of their saves. The lone survivor after the other nine Dragons fall, flees. The Furioso Dreadnought fails his charge range, even with the Fleet re-roll.
After the dust settles, the Terminators consolidate 6", and he lines them up between my Dire Avengers and the Objective, eliminating any change I'll get it.
On my turn, my Wave Serpents shoot, and one of them kills and Attack Bike (huzzah!), while my Dragons run behind the Terminators and blow up the Furioso Dreadnought (Doomed), while the Prescient Dire Avengers shoot everything at Tycho and Lemartes, who save everything. My lone Dragon rallies, but has to stay put and is out of range of anything.
So! At the end of Turn 5, I have Slay the Warlord and no objectives, while the Blood Angels have an objective, First Blood, and Linebreaker.
Eldar: 1
Blood Angels: 5
But! We rolled the die, and went on to turn 6!
Turn 6! Terminators and Tycho and Lemartes rush in and make a sad mess of my Dire Avengers and Farseer. It does not go well, as even a non-Farseer could predict.
In consolidation moves, Tycho and Lemartes menace my one lone Dragon, while the Terminators turn to face my other squad of six.
Ouch...
In my turn, my Crimson Hunter zooms up 36" on the dot to cross his deployment zone, and splatters that one Missile Launcher scout on the objective. My Wave Serpent takes out the remainder of the other Scout Squad (no more objective held! Woo!)
My six Dragons shoot at the Terminators, and one goes down (FINALLY), while the lone Dragon shoots Lemartes, who makes his save.
So, the picture above is the final spread. Tycho, Lemartes, five Terminators, and a single Attack Bike stand against the Crimson Hunter, two Wave Serpents, and seven Dragons. I also denied him the objective and had hoped for Linebreaker (only to learn that vehicles can't get Linebreaker, which I should have known).
Final point spread:
Eldar: 1
Blood Angels: 3
So I managed to snatch crushing defeat from unadulterated massacre, I'll take that. I have to admit that I was extraordinarily frustrated at this game - Terminators should not be able to take 3+ rounds of shooting from that many meltaguns and not take a *single* wound. That was ludicrous and stupid. My kingdom for the Divination power Misfortune! Also, this army was built to kill Terminators, Dreadnoughts and Death Company. Fire Dragons are the "If it absolutely has to die!" choice to tackle anything, and here they failed me. Badly.
But, it was comical how quickly Mephiston and those Dreadnoughts went down. And, this loss was in large part my fault, as I forgot (again) that Crimson Hunters re-roll to penetrate vs. Flyers. I could have dropped the Stormraven first turn and forced those late-game assault units to footslog across the board.
Then again, the way those Terminators took wounds, they didn't need any backup!
I suppose, in this case at least, the Emperor does indeed Protect.
I hope this was a fun read, I'll keep you posted on my next few games!
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