Warhammer 40k Battle Report Eldar vs Space Marines/Tau

The forces of the Mon-Keigh have stumbled upon a precious artifact of Eldar origin. The craftworld Alaitoc has sent a force to sieze the relic and bring it safely back to the craftworld. 

This is a battle report of a 1750 point game between my craftworld Alaitoc Eldar vs Todd's White Scars with Tau allies. The mission was the Relic with Dawn of War deployment. 

The Game Board with Deployment

The Armies

Craftworld Alaitoc

HQ:
 - Farseer with Doom, Guide, and Prescience (Warlord) - 100

Elites:
- 5 Fire Dragons in a Wave Serpent with Scatter Lasers, a Shuriken Cannon and Holo-Fields - 255

Troops:
- 10 Dire Avengers with Exarch  in a Wave Serpent with Scatter Lasers, a Shuriken Cannon and
   Holo-Fields - 285

- 10 Rangers - 120

- 6 Rangers - 72

- 6 Rangers - 72

- 3 Windrider Jetbikes with one Shuriken Cannon - 61

Fast Attack:

- 5 Warp Spiders with Exarch with Twin-Linked Death Spinners and Fast Shot - 120

Heavy Support:

- Fire Prism with Holo-Fields - 140

- Fire Prism with Holo-Fields - 140

- Wraithknight with Scatter Laser, Suncannon and Scattershield - 300

Fortification:

- Aegis Defence Line with Icarus Lascannon - 85 

Total: 1750

This is an unusual list for me. Normally I wouldn't take this many Rangers, but I thought I'd try 'em out and see how they did. Unfortunately the mission was the Relic so having lots of scoring units wasn't hugely helpful, and with the low damage output that Rangers tend to have, I wasn't feeling super confident in my list. Luckily, Everything in my army had the potential to bypass the Terminators' armour so that was a bit of a plus. I also got lucky and rolled Doom for one of my powers, so that would be a big help too, so long as he doesn't deny the witch too much.

White Scars/Tau

HQ:

- Korsaro Khan on Moondraken - 150

- Chapter Master with Emperor's Wrath (Warlord) - 150

- Cadre Fireblade (Allies) - 60

Elites:

- 5 Assault Terminators with Thunderhammers and Storm Shields in Landraider - 475

Troops:

- 5 Bikes with 2 Meltaguns - 125

- 5 Bikes with 2 Melatguns - 125

- 12 Fire Warriors (Allies) - 108

- 11 Fire Warriors (Allies) - 99

Heavy Support:

- Predator with Twin-Linked Lascannons and Lascannon Sponsons - 140

- Predator with Twin-Linked Lascannons and Lascannon Sponsons - 140

- Thunderfire Cannon - 100

Fortification:

 - Aegis Defence Line with Icarus Lascannon - 85

Total:  1757

I wasn't overly afraid of most of this army. The Terminators' Landraider having Scout thanks the the White Scars doctrines was a bit of a problem, but with any luck my Fire Prisms would be able to deal with it before it got too close. The other thing I was worried about was the Thunderfire Cannon. Firing four blasts a turn that could be ignoring cover was a big threat to all of my rangers, though the fact that it was only AP 6 when he fired with the shots that ignored cover helps a bit.

The Game

We Deployed using the Dawn of War deployment. Todd deployed first and set up his defence line pretty centraly, putting his fire warriors and both Predators behind it with the Bikes and Landraider on his right flank.

Todd's Deployment

Todd's Deployment 2

In response I decided to refuse flank a bit. I sent up my defense line on my right flank with all my tanks and the big squad of Rangers behind it. The Warp Spiders went into reserve to deepstrike, and the other squads of rangers went into the forest on my left and into the little tower on my right respectively. The Wraithknight stood to the far right, ready to come in and counter charge his Terminators or just jump forwards and stomp his Firewarriors.

My Deployment

Turn One

He started by scouting up his Bikes and Landraider towards my lines. I failed to seize the initiative and there was no night fighting, which allowed him to rush up unimpeded. On his turn he moved up his bikes and Landraider even more, trying to get into my lines before I got a chance to blast him off the table. His two Predators opened fire on the Wraithknight, and between the two of them brought it down to 3 wounds. His Fire Warriors were largely out of range, so they didn't do much, but his Chapter Master decided to take advantage of my clustered deployment, and called in an Orbital Bombardment. Though he managed a direct hit on a couple Rangers and both Wave Serpents, ones were abound, and when the dust settled, only one Ranger lay dead. His squad of Bikes without Khan fired at my Rangers in the forest, but thanks to the cover of the forest, none were killed. Khan's Bike squad Turbo-Boosted further up the flank, and the Landraider Turbo-Boosted into the middle forest. His Thunderfire Cannon fired on the Rangers in the building but only managed to kill 4. The other 2 held.

Poor Rangers

He then attempted to assault my Rangers in the forest, but failed. Luckily for him my Rangers also failed to do anything with their overwatch, despite getting 4 hits.

I began my turn by casting Guide and Prescience on the two Fire Prisms, and I Doomed Khan's Bikes. The Wraithknight Jumped up into the river, and the Fire Prism behind the building moved out and around to get a shot off  at the Landraider. All the other tanks shuffled around slightly in order to take advantage of their Holo-Fields. The Rangers in the forest moved back, right up against the defence line, hoping to put some distance between themselves and the Bikes. The Rangers opened by firing with their pistols on Khan's bike squad, but didn't manage to do any damage. The Fire Prism near the Wraithknight shot its lance into the Landraider, blowing a track clear off and immobilizing it.
My big ranger squad fired into Khan's bike squad and took one down, before the Dire Avenger Wave Serpent blasted the squad with the Scatter Lasers, the Shuriken Cannon and its Shield, killing the remaining 4 bikes. The Fire Dragon Wave Serpent then fired the Scatter Lasers and the Shuriken Cannon into Khan, downing the legendary Bike Lord.

What Bikes?

The Wraithknight then fired its weapons into the second Bike squad, killing all but the two Meltagunners, who held. A punishing turn for the Eldar!

End of Turn 1

Turn Two

With the Landraider immobilized, and the Bikes mostly gone, Todd decided to jup the Terminators out and move them as quick as he could towards the Eldar battle line. His remaining bikes moved forward, ready to melta and assault my rangers. His Predators began firing by shooting at my Fire Prism outside of the defence line, but the pilots skill allowed him to jink away most of the damage and it only suffered a destroyed Shuriken Catapult. The Fire Warriors, desperate to kill the Wraithknight opened fire upon the monster, but even with the Cadre Fireblade's direction only managed to do two wounds to it. Luckily, the Landraider still had its Lascannon to fire, and it managed to destroy the wraith construct. The Thunderfire Cannon started blasting at the big squad of Rangers, wounding the Farseer, and killing two more Rangers, who held their position. The two Bikers opened again on the squad in the forest, but couldn't seem to find the elusive Rangers. He attempted to charge, but ran out of gas and only rolled a 3.

With the Space Marines done, it was time for the Eldar fusillade to begin anew. The Farseer once again Guided and Prescienced the Fire Prisms, and this time Doomed the Terminators. I rolled for reserves, and both the Jetbikes and the Warp Spiders came in. The Warp Spiders attempted to Deep Strike behind the Predator on the hill, but got a little confused and landed right by the building holding the rangers. All the vehicles shuffled around, and a few of the Rangers were forced to move over to get back into coherency. The Wave Serpent with the Dire Avengers moved across the river, ready to disgorge its cargo near the Relic. The Jetbikes drove up and killed one of the bikers, and the Rangers in the forest finished them off. One of the Fire Prisms shot the Terminators with a focused blast and killed two. Both Wave Serpents opened up on the Terminators and killed the other 3 under a torrent of fire.

The Warp Spiders ran forward, eager to get into the enemy deployment zone and hopefully wreak some havoc. The Large Squad with the Farseer, and the small two man squad of Rangers both fired at the Fire Warriors with the Fireblade, hoping to pin them down, and while they managed to kill a couple, the discipline instilled in them by the Fireblade kept them from being pinned. The last Fire Prism shot its lance into the Predator on the hill again, this time immobilizing it. The Jetbikes assault moved, and the Warp Spiders activated their Jetpacks and jumped forwards.

End of Turn 2

With his forward force decimated, Todd decided to try and rush the relic with his Chapter Master and the Fire Warriors he  was accompanying. The Landraider turned its Lascannon on the Jetbikes, but failed to wound. Its machine spirit enraged by its immobilization, fired the other Lascannon at the damaged Fire Prism and managed to blow it up. The two predators fired everything they had into the Dire Avengers' Wave serpent, but due to some impressive jinking, it only sustained a single glancing hit. Trying to get closer to the Relic, the Chapter Master and his retinue ran forwards. The Thunderfire Cannon then set its sights on the Jetbikes, but due to some bad scatters didn't manage to do any damage.

With the Eldar force still very intact, the Farseer, Guided the remaining Fire Prism, cast Prescience on his squad and attempted to Doom the Chapter Master's squad, but their iron willpower prevented it. The Wave Serpent carrying the Dire Avengers moved forwards and dropped them off, the lead Avenger seizing the Relic for Alaitoc.

Taking the Relic

The Warp Spiders moved up, but tragically lost one of their member to the warp, whilst the rest of the tanks shuffled around and the Jetbikes moved to the Fire Warriors' flank. The Dire Avengers, wishing to eliminate the threat to their possession of the Relic, opened up on the Fire Warriors through the forest, killing a few, and the Wave Serpent added the weight of its scatter lasers to the fire. The Fire Prism tried to finish off the immobilized Predator, but once again its cover saved it. The remaining Wave Serpent , joined by the Rangers behind the defence line and in the Forest all fired into the Fire Warriors, killing all but two, and wounding the Chapter Master once. The Jetbikes added their fire and killed another Fire Warrior. The Chapter Master's precense allowed the lone tau warrior to keep his nerve though, and the squad did not run. The Warp Spiders continued to run forwards, before assault leaping again. The Jetbikes declared an assault against the Chapter Master, and no wounds were taken by either side.

Assaulting the Chapter Master

With so little left to contest my hold on the objective, and with me having first blood as well, Todd conceded the game for a final score of Eldar 4, White Scars and Tau 0. An overwhelming Eldar victory!

End of the Game

Post Game Thoughts

Well that battle went very well for me, despite my list not being hugely capable for the mission type. The main thing that went my way was Todd's failing that first assault against my Rangers. Him failing the charge there allowed me to bring my entire army to bear on the Bike squads and gave me First Blood. Immobilizing the Land Raider was also a huge deal, as it meant that his Terminators never made it near my lines.

The dice really favored me this game as well. Todd managed to do no damage at all on my Wave Serpents and only killed one Ranger with his Orbital Bombardment, which was uncanny, and even his Thunderfire Cannon was scattering like crazy. My Jink saves were also going very well for me.

I think that he made a mistake deploying all of his Bikes and his Landraider on one side, as it allowed me to buy some more time with my deployment by simply deploying on the other end from him. I do think that I should have deployed my Rangers with the Farseer and the Icarus on the other side of the Defence Line, so that I could have more rapidly deployed my Dire Avengers. I also found myself a little unsure of what to do with all my Rangers, as I didn't want to deploy them too far up where they would just get eaten by his Fire Warriors or Bikes, and so they ended up mostly just sitting back the whole game. Not sure I would bring that many again.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and as always, any comments are appreciated!