This was a 1550 point game between my Eldar and Todd's White Scars/Dark Angels Space Marines. The mission was Big Guns Never Tire with 4 Objectives and using the Dawn of War deployment type.
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| The Game Board |
Eldar
HQ:
- Autarch with Banshee Mask, Fusion Gun, Laser Lance, Mantle of the Laughing God, and a Jetbike
(Warlord) - 150
- Spirit Seer - 70
Troops:
- 5 Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent with Holo-Fields, Shuriken Cannon and Twin-Linked Scatter
Lasers - 210
- 5 Wraithguard with D-Scythes in a Wave Serpent with Holo-Fields, Shuriken Cannon and
Twin-Linked Scatter Lasers - 355
- 3 Jetbikes with 1 Shuriken Cannon - 61
Heavy Support:
- Wraithknight with Scatter Laser, Suncannon and Scattershield - 300
- Wraithknight with Scatter Laser and Heavy Wraithcannons - 260
- Fire Prism with Holo-Fields - 140
Total: 1546
This list was kind of a fun list to see how two Wraithknights would do. I was definitely skeptical that the dual Heavy Wraithcannons would be worth taking, but I wanted to test it out, as with a little luck I could use them to wreck some vehicles or something. I also wanted to try out the Mantarch again, as in a previous game against Brennan he really did spectacularly, trolololing around the board with his Fusion Gun and just generally being a nuisance. Mainly I was concerned about my lack of models, as so many points were tied up in the Wraithknights.
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| Eldar Strike Force |
HQ:
- Kor'Sarro Khan on Moondraken (Warlord) - 150
- Sammael on Saberclaw (Allied) - 200
Elite:
- Ironclad Dreadnought with Powerfist (Heavy Flamer), Seismic Hammer (Meltagun) in Drop Pod
- 190
- 5 Assault Terminators with Thunderhammers and Storm Shields in a Landraider Redeemer with
Dozer Blade - 470
Troops:
- 5 Bikes with 2x Grav Guns - 140
- 5 Bikes with 2x Meltaguns - 130
- 6 Scouts with Camo Cloaks, Sniper Rifles, and Sergent (Allied) - 98
Fast Attack:
- Dark Shroud (Allied) - 80
Fortification:
- Aegis Defence Line with Quad Gun - 100
Total: 1553
This list was quite mobile, and could almost even match me for mobility. I wasn't overly concerned with the Darkshroud as I knew that my Serpent Shields would be able to make short work of it, and he didn't have much in the way of long range shooting that could threaten them. The Termies could prove to be a problem if I was unable to take down the Land Raider early on. Hopefully the Wraithcannons and Fire Prism would be able to deal with it so that I could nuke the Termies with the Suncannon and Wraithguard.
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| Space Marines |
Todd won the roll for table sides and took the side with the forests. I won the roll for first turn and elected to go first. I deployed my Fire Prism and the Wraitcannon Knight behind the hill in order to get a bit of cover from whatever shooting he would send my way. The other Wraithknight went behind the other building with the two Wave Serpents while the Mantarch went on the far flank obscured by a building, hoping to boost forwards to threaten the Scouts right away. The Bikes went in reserve.
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| Eldar Deployment |
Todd Deployed his Defence line in the center of the board, and put his Scouts behind it. The Landraider deployed on the same flank as the rest of my army, flanked by both units of Bikes and Khan, and with the Darkshroud behind it to give out cover saves. Sammael and the Ironclad went in reserve.
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| Space Marine Deployment |
Turn 1
Todd begins by scouting up his Landraider and bikes a bit, along with the Darkshroud to get some jink saves and stuff. The Melta Bikes move in front of the Raider to grant it cover with their own bodies. Wasteful Mon'Keigh. The Wave Serpents move to my left to get away from the approaching Marines and get a better shot at the Darkshroud. The Suncannon Wraithknight goes with them, and the Cannon Knight moves over as well. The Fire Prism shuffles a bit to get a jink, and hopefully out of assault range on his turn.
Shooting begins with the Wave Serpents firing their Shields into the Darkshroud, which explodes under the weight of fire, granting the Eldar First Blood. Next comes the Wraithknight who fires its Heavy Wraithcannons into the Landraider, and despite two hits, it fails to get even a glance through. The Suncannon Knight shoots into Khan's Bike Squad and kills one. The Fire Prism tries to do the same, but scatters badly and does no damage. The Mantarch Turbo-Boosts right up to the Scouts.
The Marines respond by jetting forwards. The Melta Bikes bank hard to go deal with the pesky Solitaire harassing their recruits. Meanwhile the Landraider and the Grav Bikes keep their course and move straight towards the Fireprism and Wraithcannon toting Wriathknight. Streaking through the heavens comes the Drop Pod which manages to land directly behind the Fire Prism.
The Ironclad Dreadnought steps out of its transport and fires the Meltagun into the rear of the Fire Prism, but the pilot jinks out of the way. In anger, it fires the Heavy Flamer which Ignites the Fire Prisms engine fuel, causing it to explode. The Grav Bikes fire their Grav Guns into the Wraithknight, but do a bad job and only manage to get one wound through. The Scouts and Melta Bikes all fire everything they have at the giggling Solitaire, but his trickery keeps him safe from all harm.
Enraged by the alien's mockery, the Space Marines charge the Autarch, and though the Sergent decides not to accept the Solitaire's challenge, combined attacks from the scouts and bikers do a wound to the Mantarch, who manages to do absolutely nothing in return. Having had enough of this combat, the Solitaire hit and runs off back the way he came, while the White Scars go the other direction, attempting to get behind a building.
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| End of Turn 1 |
Turn 2
Seeing that the Space Marines are closing quickly, the Eldar continue to move away, with the Wave Serpents Turbo-Boosting away. The Suncannon Wraithknight moves to get line of sight on the Melta Bikes. The Wraithcannon Wraithknight Moves away from the Dreadnought, hoping to target the Landraider again. The Jetbikes boost onto the field, and Turbo-Boost up towards the Scouts.
Once again, the Wraithcannons fire into the Landraider, and once again they fail to do anything. The Suncannon Knight unleashes the devastating power of its weapon on the Melta Bikes clustered behind the building, and slaughters them to a man.The Mantarch Turbo-Boosts away from the scouts.
Eager to put an end to the aliens, Sammael deep strikes in next to the Drop Pod. The Bikes drive up and the Landraider unloads its cargo, who move towards the Wraithcannon Knight. Firing everything they have at the Wraithknight has little effect, only doing one more wound to the construct. The Scouts shoot the Quad gun and their Sniper Rifles into the Jetbikes and manage to kill all three of them. The Terminators then charge the Knight and though they lose one of their number, they manage to down it, and move off towards the Wave Serpents.
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| End of Turn 2 |
The dire avengers jump out of their Wave Serpent to fire on the Terminators. The Wraithguard Serpent moves away, as does the Dire Avenger Wave Serpent which turns to face the Terminators. The Wraithknight jumps forwards to shoot at the Scouts.
The Dire Avengers kick things off by unloading their guns into the Terminators, killing two. Both Wave Serpents follow suit, and under the barrage of lasers, energy fields, and shuriken, the Terminators are killed. The Wraithknight once again fires its Suncannon, this time into the scouts, killing 2 of them. The Solitaire boosts up behind the Scouts again, ready to fight them.
Moving around to try and get a shot on the flighty Eldar, the Bikes and Landraider drive towards the Wraithknight. Sammael follows suit, and the Dreadnought lumbers towards the tanks impotently. Firing everything they have at the Wraithknight only does a single wound to the construct, and the snap-firing Scouts fail to hurt the Autarch
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| End of Turn 3 |
Moving forward the Wraithknight walks towards the Landraider. The Dire Avengers' Wave Serpent cruises over to help deal with the Bikes while the Wraithguard Serpent drives up to hopefully damage the Ironclad with its shield. The Dire Avengers move towards the objective by the cairne.
Unloading its guns on the Bikes, the Wave Serpent manages to kill three of them, leaving just one bike and Khan left. The other Serpent only does one glance to the Ironclad. The Wraithknight charges the Landraider and manages to Immobilize it and do one Hullpoint. The Solitaire assaults the Scouts, and fails to do any damage but takes none himself.
The Ironclad moves over towards the Wraithknight bashing against the Landraider, as do Sammael and Khan. The Lone Biker moves over towards the objective behind the hill. Shooting does no damage to the Wraithknight. Khan then charges the Wraithknight, who crushes him beneath its huge foot. Once again the Mantarch combat is a slap fight, and to make things worse, he fails to hit and run away.
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| End of Turn 4 |
Once again the Wave Serpents move around, the Wraithguard one moving towards the Objective near the Bike to try and claim or contest it if there's another turn. Shooting their shields into the Ironclad only does one more hullpoint to it. In assault the Mantarch once again whiffs and the Wraithknight only does one hull point to the Landraider.
Seeing an opportunity, Sammael moves to shoot at the Dire Avengers, while the Dreadnought moves into assault range of the Wraithknight. Firing the Assault Cannon and Heavy Bolter with Sammael kills 4 of the 5 Dire Avengers. The Landraider fires its Assault Cannon into the last one and kills him off as well. The Dreadnought assaults the Wraithknight who whiffs yet again. The Dreadnought does one wound in turn. Again, the slap fight between the Scouts and the Autarch continues. We roll for game length, and the game ends this turn.
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| End of the Game |
Total Points
Eldar - 6 (One Objective, First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker)
Space Marines - 6 (One Objective, Line Breaker, Two Heavy Kills)
Post-Game Thoughts
That was a really fun game, although I think I really could have played it much better. I made some mistakes at the end of the game, and it definitely cost me a win. I should have moved the Wraithguard onto the objective held by my Dire Avengers to ensure that I would have it at the end of the game. I also shouldn't have Turbo-Boosted my Mantarch away from the Scouts turn 2, but I made the mistake of doing it before I fired my Suncannon. Had I fired the Suncannon first I could have assaulted the Scouts Turn 2 and possibly done something to them, maybe even wiping them off the objective, and probably keeping my bikes alive to claim it.
I also had some poor luck in the last two turns of the game, between not killing the Landraider when I assaulted it, and my Mantarch failing its hit and run turn 4. If the game had not ended turn 5 I almost certainly have been able to take the Biker off of my objective as well. Such is the nature of the game though, and had I not made so many tactical blunders these things wouldn't have mattered at all.
I think Todd played his list well as well, though I'm not sure moving his Bike Squad off to fight my Mantarch was wise, as had I managed to roll a bit better in combat, it could have done some damage to them, not to mention the fact that it put them in a position to be annihilated by the Suncannon.
I would have to say my Suncannon Wraithknight was easily my MVP this game, between blasting the Bike squad, killing some Scouts, beating the shit out of Khan, and punching up a Landraider, he did some serious damage. I definitely wouldn't take the dual Heavy Wraithcannon Wraithknight again. The lack of invulnerable save really is a big down side to it, as anything that can really hurt a Wraithknight is ignoring your save anyways. I also don't find the Wraithcannons to be very reliable, though not rolling well to penetrate didn't help my opinion of it. The Mantarch didn't do much either, but that's largely bad rolling as much as anything else. There also wasn't much in the way of vehicles for him to pop, so that didn't help.
Overall it was a fun game and I feel like I learned a lot. As always, thanks for reading.
Was a pretty interesting game, I may have failed when I moved my bikers off to help the scouts. Since it was a contested point in the end all that fuss was for naught... I definitely failed when I thought I could escape Line of site... Lol ahh well, live and learn. There are some rules I'm still curious about after that game. One was what happens when both units have hit and run and both want to use it... The other was less vague but i was surprised to find that a walker in combat with a scoring unit doesn't actually contest the strategic point? Ether way it was a great battle and I learned much from it swell :)
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