Hey all! We're back in to it - 8TH EDITION LEEEEEAAAGUE!
I'm excited. Super excited. Pumped even. Ready? I'm not ready. Too bad cuz we're going anyway!
ROUND 1 - Ynnari vs. Space Marines
The League this time around is real big, folks are very excited about 8th dropping and ready to jump in or back into the game - and my Ynnari are ready to see the table for the first time :)
Here's the breakdown-
750 pts.
4'x4' table.
Search And Destroy Deployment
No Mercy Mission
Here's that mission again:
Modified: also includes a single Objective on the center of the table, worth 4pts to whoever holds it at the end of the game. The Deployment map is the one here on the very bottom left-
Right before going into this game, I double-checked the most recent FAQ, and the major thing I learned was that I *have* to have one of the Triumvirate of Ynnead (Yvraine, the Visarch, or the Yncarne) as Warlord to run an Ynnari Detachment. So, last minute, I had to borrow a Visarch day-of. Which worked out!
On the plus side, the same FAQ gave the Visarch a 4+ Invulnerable Save, which also helped out magnificently.
Here was my list:
Ynnari Battalion Detatchment
Visarch (Warlord, 6+ FNP trait "Tenacious Survivor")
Autarch Skyrunner (Banshee Mask, Laser Lance, Fusion Gun)
5x Kaballite Warriors (Blaster, Sybarite Grenade Launcher and Agnozier)
5x Kaballite Warriors (Splinter Cannon)
8x Storm Guardians (2x Power Swords, 2x Fusion Guns)
Raider (Disintegrator, Shock Prow)
Wraithlord (2x Flamers, Bright Lance, Missile Launcher)
750 pts on the nose, I was proud of that :D and 6x Command Points
I showed up and found out I was facing-
Space Marines Patrol Detatchment
Techmarine (Armor Indomitus Relic)
Scout Squad (5x Scouts, 4x Sniper Rifles, Camo Cloaks)
Tactical Squad (10x, Combi-Plasma)
Redemptor Dreadnought (Icarus Rockets, Redemptor Fist, Heavy Onslaught Gattling Cannon, 2x Storm Bolters)
Redemptor Dreadnought (Icarus Rockets, Redemptor Fist, Heavy Onslaught Gattling Cannon, 2x Storm Bolters)
Rhino (Storm Bolter)
749 pts, 3x Command Points
*Raven Guard Chapter Tactics (!)
...what the hell is that? And two of them?!
We rolled for terrain, and Marines got the first go, deploying in their corner and determining which corner I got. We alternated deploying units until we both were done. Both of our lists were small, but his was enough smaller that he finished deploying first even with placing first unit - and since he finished deploying first, that gave him first turn.
But! I had the chance to seize! And I rolled a five! This was my first time to use a COMMAND RE-ROLL, so I spent that 1 Command Point and rolled a two.
Well, worth a try, right?
Brace for the MURDER RAIN...
There's some Cover, but it's mostly clear firing lanes. I was expecting this turn to hurt, but I'd wanted to be a little bit forward to get up close quickly. My list was chock full of Melta Guns, but on squishy frames, so I had to be aggressive. Also, I kept my list somewhat close together to take advantage of Strength from Death if the first volley was as furious as I worried it would be.
Note the Blaster unit of Warriors and the Visarch are in the Raider.
Here's that terrifying gun line. Rhino in cover, one Dreadnought more or less in cover, the Techmarine behind those horrifying monsters. The Scouts can be seen in the center right on the photo above this one - placed very aggressively to give them a clean line of fire on my army.
...They may look like Reivers, but they're Scouts, I swear
Marines Turn 1!
Boy, that was brutal. Combined fire from the Dreadnoughts took down my Raider, although fortunately it didn't Explode, that would have been bad. After the first Dreadnought fired, the Raider only had 3 Hit Points left (I was making Saves on a 5+), so I opted not to even use a Command Re-roll because the other Dreadnought hadn't even fired yet, I could only save one, and the first volley had easily stripped seven Wounds.
But! The Raider going down triggered an Soulburst! My Storm Guardians Advanced and moved for the big rock on the center right, their 7" base move giving them a great leg up, even with the 1 I rolled for Advancing, for an 8" move total.
It also triggered a Soulburst for my Visarch and both units of Kaballites, who took a shot at the Scouts, killing one with the Blaster.
After that, his Snipers managed to pick two Wounds off of the Visarch (!) leaving him with only three remaining. This was my first time facing Sniper weapons, and clearly they're every bit as scary as I thought they'd be. Plus, they have a Strength now, so instead of Wounding on flat 4+ like they used to, they Wound my T3 Visarch on 3+ (!)
As nasty as losing the Raider is, that being nearly all of the damage I took was a hell of a lot better than I expected, or than it could have been. With all units being able to Split Fire, I almost expected to be half-wiped because of how fragile my Infantry are. Plus, I killed a Scout in his own turn, that was a nice bonus. All in all that left me in a pretty good position going into-
Eldar Turn 1!
My Autarch and Storm Guardians Advanced for dear life behind the rock, getting them safely out of line of sight of those Dreadnoughts, positioning me for the next turn.
My Wraithlord fired with both Missile Launcher and Bright Lance, stripping one Wound off of the nearer of the two (one?!) at the cost of another re-roll - those are going fast!
This is a bit of a pickle with the Wraithlord. He has two anti-tank guns, both with the potential to strip quite a few Wounds. But, they're both Heavy, so if he moves I get a -1 penalty to-hit. To make matters worse, those Marines are Raven Guard, so I have a -1 to-hit penalty already if they're more than 12" away. Which means at best I'm hitting on 4+, but if I move at all, it's a 5+. It's already only two shots, so I had to stay put more than I liked this game...
The Warriors shot the Scouts again, this time actually dropping one with the Splinter Cannon, but easily dispatching one with the Blaster. Turns out the Blaster is real good at taking out units in deep cover. Who knew? Doesn't matter if those Camo Cloaks are granting a 2+ Save, the -4 Rend on a Blaster easily pops them out.
After the above, the Visarch tried to Charge the Scouts. While he weathered Overwatch, he did take a Wound (dammit bro...) and failed the Charge. That is, until I used another Command Re-roll, and he made the charge! Woo! Three Command Points left.
He easily obliterated all of them. Turns out five attacks hitting on 2+ at S5 with Rend -3 is, you know, pretty good!
Bonus: killing the Scouts triggered Soulburst! The Visarch used it to Advance down the far side of that ruin, safely out of sight. The Splinter Cannon unit of Warriors was also in range, and took a pot-shot at the Dreadnoughts, but missed. Dammit.
Using Soulbursts for the extra mobility means a hell of a lot of movement between rounds of getting shot at, and it makes a big difference. If I had this turn to do again, I would have Advanced with my Splinter Cannon unit behind the wall to their left, they would easily have been out of sight there - but that would have left my Wraithlord as the only target on the table, so I opted to leave them out as bullet bait (sorry guys...)
I felt pretty good about this turn, killing the Scouts was a load of stress off me. Plus, hiding my scary units behind rocks was a good position to be in for next turn.
But is it enough?
Marines Turn 2!
The Marines moved up en masse, capturing the Objective, obviously with the intent of holding it for the rest of the game. Oh, but first, that damned Techmarine healed the one Wound I'd inflicted on the Dreadnought! Curses!
He also used most of his Command Points for a Stratagem, Wisdom of the Ancients, allowing his Dreadnoughts to re-roll to-hit rolls of 1. Considering how much fire they were already putting out, that was not good news.
His shooting was predictably terrifying:
See, there *were* ten Warriors there...
On the plus side, it actually took quite a bit of shooting to take them out, and since shots all have to have declared targets before you roll, they saved me from some shots even after they died.
These things. These things are scary.
After wiping my Warriors, they still had enough firepower to drop my Wraithlord by *six* Wounds, but I used one of my last three Command Re-rolls and saved one, just barely keeping ol' Wraithbone-head from going down by half, which would have been the first level of big de-buffs for being damaged!
Again, a bad turn for me, but could have been considerably worse- The Warriors were a shield unit, and the only thing in there that was going to help me for the rest of the game was that one Blaster, but I think they did more good soaking fire than they would have later.
Eldar Turn 2!
That move up by the Marines was everything I could have hoped for. While it was the logical move for taking the Objective, it was also perfect break I'd needed to set the world on fire!
And I did - right off the bat, my Autarch with a 16" Fly move and Storm Guardians with a 7" move popped over and around the rock, getting not only in shooting range, but in half range with no less than three Fusion Guns.
An undamaged Redemptor Dreadnought is no joke though, so I crossed all my digits!
The other part of my pincer moved up as well, leaping from hiding on the side of the board-
I laid into those suckers with everything I had, starting with the Wraithlord, who peeled off two Wounds, then the Storm Guardians busted out a Grenade, their Shuriken Pistols (and actually did a Wound. In what world does a Shuriken Pistol would a Redemptor? I freaking love 8th!)
So, long story short, all three Meltaguns hit, and all of them rolled 2d6, keeping the highest, for Damage (that was a whole bunch of 6's!) and I killed the crap out of that closest Redemptor. Like, wrecked it good. And it did not Explode, which was a huge relief.
Know what it did do though? Triggered a Soulburst.
Is Soulburst cheating? Feels kind of like cheating, because that second volley allowed me to easily drop the second Redemptor down below half health. And make it nervous. Very nervous.
To follow up, everything tried to Charge that Redemptor to finish it off, the Storm Guardians first - and that glorious, lumpy, grey son of a bitch killed all of them. ALL of them in OVERWATCH. The hell?? That re-roll to-hit Stratagem was still in effect, and that did make a difference, but even so, that was an unreasonably large number of 6's...
Well now I was nervous. And I guess it showed, because the Visarch failed his Charge (but didn't get Overwatched to death, making both Saves). So I used second to last Command Re-roll to try again, and I'll be darned if I didn't make it. Those things are really handy!
But the Autarch failed. Shucks. And since I'd already used one in the Charge phase, I couldn't use my last one there. At least he didn't take Overwatch, since the Visarch was already in combat.
In combat, the Visarch did a couple Wounds, dropping the Dreadnought down precariously low with his D3 Damage, but it wasn't out of the fight yet. What's worse, the Techmarine used Heroic Intervention and a Pile-In to get into combat as well!
But, my Visarch held out :) that 4++ keeping him alive through some very unlikely tricks of survival.
Win some, lose some. I'd showed myself - and him - that those Dreadnoughts are far from invincible, and I was turning the tide in terms of kills to deaths. But losing my Storm Guardians was bad, real bad, and left me sitting with a mere 7 Wounds in the center between the Autarch and the Visarch. Not only that, but the Visarch was getting hit, and hard. I wasn't at all sure he could hold out for any length of time.
Marines Turn 3!
While I was in the best position I'd been all game, it could still collapse any moment. After the Rhino moved, we went straight into Combat, where the Dreadnought whiffed most of his Attacks, and the Visarch, spectacularly, still lived. In my return swing, I chose to swing at the Techmarine, hoping to kill him handily and get a Soulburst to go after the Dreadnought.
This was when I learned what the Armor Indomitus does. It grants the bearer a 2+ Invulnerable Save for a turn, once per game. Shit. Well, predictably, he saved all of the many Wounds the Visarch did, denied me the Soulburst, and swung back. Luckily though, the Visarch lived again! Although it cost him his second to last Wound, and a Command Re-roll to keep him alive. Sitting precariously on one Wound, he had one final chance to turn that combat before he was out of the fight.
That's it for my Re-rolls too, and I'd been seriously leaning on those this game!
Eldar Turn 3!
My Autarch jumped over the Rhino, and the Wraithlord Advanced, finally getting off the back lines to actually get into the fight, but unable to fire this turn. Then, my Autarch shot the bejeesus out of the Dreadnought, nearly killing it. The Visarch then followed up in combat, this time easily dispatching the Techmarine (Indomitus having worn off), and granting himself a Soulburst to mulch the Dreadnought, once and for all.
That also gave the Autarch a Soulburst, which he used to shoot the Rhino, but with some atrocious rolling and good saves, wound up dealing it only two Wounds.
Marines Turn 4!
With the Dreadnoughts gone, the Marines got gutsy - the Tactical unit piled out, then the Rhino moved to block my Wraithlord. If he could hold out, he had the Objective, and the win (for now), so he had to do some serious damage to me, and do it quick.
Insanely enough, with some bad rolling and some hot 3+ saves, the Visarch actually survived that shooting, including with the Combi-Plasma, and then was Charged by the Marines. I chose not to use Heroic Intervention to pile-in with my Autarch, because I wouldn't get the bonuses for Charging with the Laser Lance, or get to shoot in my turn (or shoot with a Soulburst!)
So, although the Marines did handily finish off the Visarch, ending his heroic survival streak, in the Soulburst that followed the Autarch killed a full half of them in shooting. Then it was my turn, and he got to shoot again, along with the Wraithlord's two Flamers, wiping the unit entirely.
At that point, we called it. Because my Autarch was going to get a Soulburst shooting attack on the Rhino, and then he and the Wraithlord would charge it, and there was no question they would wreck it - so I actually tabled the Marines (!)
Wrap-up!
Hoo! That game felt close, up until maybe the final turn. Tallying points we had Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker, and First Blood for 1 point each. Then Kill Points, for 1 point per enemy unit killed, and then the Objective for 4 points to whoever held it at the end of the game.
During the game we hadn't been keeping track, so here was our moment to see just how close it was-
Marines:
First Blood
Slay the Warlord
5x Kill Points (Raider, 2x Warriors, Visarch, Storm Guardians)
7 Points Total
Eldar:
Slay the Warlord
5x Kill Points (Scouts, 2x Dreadnoughts, Techmarine, Tacticals)
Objective
10 Points Total
I actually had 6 Kill Points, counting the Rhino, but since we called it before that happened, and already turned in our official score sheets - meh :)
Neither one of us had Linebreaker, having duked it out in the Objective zone in the end. Without the Objective though, I would have either lost, or we would have tied had we counted the Rhino. SUPER close game!
And, it was an absolute blast of a game! The cunning General/Chapter Master of those bright yellow Raven Guard is an awesome sport, and a joy to face across the table.
For all the dirty tricks I pulled this game, he'd also come prepared to just paste me across the table, rocking two of the shiniest, newest murder buckets in the Space Marine lineup, and taking Raven Guard Chapter Tactics to make it that much harder for me to shift them. So we both came loaded for bear, and it really showed.
Ynnari/Closing thoughts:
This was my first time running Ynnari with all of their rules, including Strength from Death, as well as the Visarch.
Soulburst is insanely good, and it makes the army far more aggressive, advancing as a group to get the most benefit from it. It makes a lot of those squishy glass cannon units twice the cannon, or twice as fast when they're already some of the faster units in the game. It did feel like cheating, but had even one or two rolls gone against me, I would have been wiped off this table without a second glance. As it was, Soulburst made this game an actual game.
Plus, one of the things I've always struggled with is playing aggressively. Strength from Death almost forces me to, and it compliments my favorite units beautifully, while making the army feel like it should: like a group of warriors who have spent their entire centuries-long existence fighting for merest survivial, under constant threat from Slaanesh, only to now, finally, be able to unleash their full fury. They play like vicious warriors now, rather than the canny snipers they've felt like in the past.
The Visarch, for his part, really held his own. Again, largely through lucky saves, and entirely because of the FAQ (thank you 4++!) but having no ranged weapon at all sucks, as did having so few Wounds. But that's on me, he heals a lost Wound on a 4+ every time an Ynnari MODEL within 6" dies, so he should have been regenerating Wounds, had I not run him forward and then hid - that will make a huge difference in future games.
As for 8th in general... Man, what an improvement! Multi-wound weapons, Saves being simplified and streamlined, and holy hell, Command Re-rolls? I've always struggled with terrible rolls at the worst possible moments (statistically much more often than I should), having the option to try again is huge for me. Usually I lean on Farseers for that, but this time I was able to do it without one - although you can be damn sure I'll add a Farseer next round!
In 7th, I would have wasted gallons of fire trying to shift those Scouts, where this time, Rend made it much more reasonable (although maybe not for the poor Scouts...) the new Melta rule, at first I was unimpressed by it, but now having used it, it makes a huge difference, and makes those guns even more devastating than they were before.
Remember, space elves - don't leave home without your Fusion Guns!
And that's that! Very much looking forward to Round 2 :D
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