Game two with my current eldar list and this time I’m against a ravenwing army using vanilla marines codex. So bikes, bikes, bikes in a 1500 point game. We rolled for mission and got the relic with dawn of war deployment.
So my second
game with this list and I hope I have learnt a bit from my last game, reserve
isn’t great as it might bugger you up so keep the war walkers on the table. The
placement of the weapons crew and warlock in the guardian units it key so don’t
have them up front. So that will do for now, so I need to keep learning. For
those who didn't read last weeks battle report here is a recap of my list.
Eldar 1495
Farseer – 145
(warlord) w/ guardians
Runes of
warding, witness, spirit stones, Doom, guide
11 guardians
– 133
Scatter laser,
warlock, embolden
11 guardians –
133
Scatter laser,
warlock, embolden
10 Dire avengers
– 153
Exarch, 2 x
catapults, blade storm
Wave serpent –
125
Twin scatter
laser, shuriken cannon
8 Fire dragons –
128
Wave serpent – 125
Twin scatter
laser, shuriken cannon
8 Fire dragons –
128
Wave serpent –
125
Twin scatter
laser, shuriken cannon
2 vypers – 120
2 x shuriken
cannons
3 war walkers –
180
2 x scatter
lasers
And here is the
space marine list that i played against, a lot more manoeuvrable than
the blood angel’s I’m used to playing but also a lot more elite.
Marines 1495
Captain – 180 w/
5 bike squad (warlord: )
Bike, thunder
hammer, artificer armour
5 Bikes – 235
Power sword, 2 x
plasma gun, attack bike, multimelta
6 Bikes – 260
Power sword, 2 x
plasma gun, attack bike, multimelta
6 Bikes – 260
Power sword, 2 x
plasma gun, attack bike, multimelta
6 Bikes – 260
Power sword, 2 x
plasma gun, attack bike, multimelta
Land speeder –
100
Multimelta,
typhoon missile launcher
Land speeder –
100
Multimelta,
typhoon missile launcher
Land speeder –
100
Multimelta,
typhoon missile launcher
We set terrain
up like the rule book suggested instead of just making it look ok. So the table
looks a bit different but I'm happy with it. We use mysterious terrain and say
the craters are water features (pools or something) and the ruined temple and
oil rig are artefacts. The rest is what it looks like. We roll for who goes
first and I win, set up with the guardians and war walkers behind a rocky hill
to be able to combine fire. The vypers and wave serpents are deployed on the
left with one unit of fire dragons kept in reserve to be used as a counter
attacking unit.
 |
| The eldar deployment |
The marines then deploy with the captain and bikes in the
centre, and a unit on each flank and the final one in between the captain and
left flank bikes (these are going to be called the centre bikes). He keeps all
3 speeders in reserve.
 |
| Marines deployment |
Night fight is
once again in effect turn one and the marines attempt to steal the initiative.
He steals is, that will be an issue.
Marines turn 1
The bikes on the right hand side of the board move forward
to activate the artefact and roll to see what result we get. Holy Relic, so we
have an oil rig which is now worth 2 VP at the end of the game, a nice surprise
I guess. The bikes on the far left gets in range of the other artefact and
reveal that to be a force dome, so a 4+ invulnerable (so 4++) for being within
6 inches of it. That will be a pain for me. The captain and his bikes move
straight towards my lines down the centre while the final biker unit moves into
a pool just to see what it is, revealing it to be Daemon bile... so nothing
much happens.
Shooting phase starts with the captain and his retinue
opening up on my war walkers with the multimelta and plasma guns. They get a
penetrating hit and immobilise the front war walker. The bikes on the right
fire at the right hand guardians and thanks to shroud noting happens as I make
3 saves for them. Unfortunately the same can’t be said about the other
guardians unit who lose 4 men to the bikes in the middle. They hold thanks to
embolden though, the re-roll saved them. The final bike squad fires its
multimelta at the Dire avengers wave serpent and makes it explode, killing 3 of
the dire avengers in the process. They aren’t pinned though; First blood goes
to the Marines.
Eldar turn 1
The farseer starts by casting doom on the captain and guide
on the war walkers. The guardians on the right move into the forest in front of
them only to discover its a carnivorous forest... damn. The dire avengers hide
behind the ruin in front of them. The wave serpent moves forward towards the
bikes on the left. The vypers move to the right to target the bikes in the
open.
Shooting starts with the war walker’s firing on the captain
and his bikes, killing the front two under a hail of shots, I was a bit
irritated more didn’t die because of the sheer volume of shots but such is
life. The guardians then both join in and manage to deal a single wound to the
attack bike. To make up for this disappointing performance the vypers fire at
the bikes on the right killing 3 of them somehow causing them to flee. The wave
serpent then targets the bikes but fail to hit even with the re-roll. Ah well.
We roll for the carnivorous forest and I lose 2 guardians to the hunger plant
life.
Marines turn 2
Reserves are rolled for and two of the three land speeders
come onto the board, one on each side of the battle field. The captain moves
forward towards my farseer as does the bike squad to his left. The bikes on the
left, move towards the Dire avengers. The bikes that fled, reground and move
forwards a little.
The bike squad that moved towards the guardians containing
the farseer rapid fire into them managing to kill every single guardian but
leaving the farseer alone in the middle of the battle field. The bikes on the
far right manage to get a few shoots off on the guardians in the forest and
deal a single wound. The speeder that entered on the left fires its whole
payload at the wave serpent but thanks to jink only gets a single glance
though, reducing it to two hull points. The bikes next to it continue the
onslaught, but only manage to remove a single hull point, leaving it on one.
The speeder on the right shoots at the vypers dealing 1 penetrating hit, immobilising
the front one.
Combat starts and the captain attempts to charge the war
walkers but fail to roll enough distance. This trend is followed with the bikes
who attempt to charge the farseer rolling snake eyes. That was very lucky for
me.
 |
| The farseer is alone |
Eldar turn 2
Rolling for reserves the fire dragons fail to appear, I
could have used them... I don’t think I will be keeping them in reserve another
game now. I attempt to doom the captain but even though I was successful he
denied the witch, stopping the power. The farseer then guides the war walkers.
Movement starts with the remaining guardians moving out of the less than
friendly forest while the vyper abandons his follow vehicle and moves back to
confront the captains unit. On the other side of the table the fire dragon’s
jump out of their wave serpent and move towards the bikes still in range of the
force dome, I might as well try as the wave serpent won’t last much longer
either way. The dire avengers move to the edge of the ruins and aim their guns
straight at the bikes in front of them.
The dragons unleash hell on the bikes but only mange to
down 2 of the bikes due to the 4++. The wave serpent then shoots at the speeder
in front of it but fails to do anything to it thanks to the jink save. The dire
avengers attempt to blade storm the bikes but only drop a single biker. The
bikes fail their moral test though and flee 13 inches away, not a bad result.
The immobilised vyper shoots at the speeder on the right and deals a single
glance to it. The other vyper targets the captain but does nothing. The
combined shooting of the war walkers and the guardians take down 2 of the
captains biker allies leaving the captain and attack bike left, they hold
however.
 |
| The dragons send the bikers running |
Marines turn 3
The final speeder appears and comes down the centre of the
field. The bikes that fled regroup and move towards the relic. The bikes that
shot down the guardians want to finish their work and move over the difficult
terrain to get at their pray. The captain moves to the war walkers while the
bikes and speeder on the right hide side move down the flank.
The centre speeder shoots at the war walkers, getting two
penetrating hits on it, wrecking the front one and exploding a second one. The
bikes on the right shoot at the immobilised vyper and get two penetrating hits
wrecking it. The land speeder on the right has a line of sight to the still
active vyper and penetrates it, making it explode, killing a single guardian in
the explosion. The speeder on the left finishes off the wave serpent reducing
it to a wreck. The bikes that regrouped this turn shoot at the fire dragons and
take 3 of them down, but they hold. In a hail of lead the farseer falls as the
entire squad of bikes shoot at him, ensuring he died. Very aware of the
possibility of fire dragons next turn and the front war walker no longer being
there the captain moves back so he doesn’t get fried by fire dragons.
Eldar turn 3
Finally the fire dragons appear and move right in front of
the bikes that killed the farseer and disembark. The final war walker and
guardians move forward to target the captain. The dire avengers jump down from the
ruins and move towards the force dome. The now serpent less fire dragons move
forward to get as many of the bikes in range of their fusion guns possible.
Getting revenge for their fallen brethren the fire dragons
on the left kill 3 of the bikers while the dragons in the centre only mange to
kill a single biker... 1, just 1 guy falls thanks to 4 jink saves. Damn. The
war walkers and guardians manage to reduce the bike squad to just the captain
but he is still unwounded. The wave serpent shoots at the centre bikes manage
to kill a single biker.
Marines turn 4
The bikes in the centre of the table moves to face the new
fire dragon threat while the right bikes move down the flank. The land speeder
on the right moves to target the guardians as does the captain. The remnants of
the bikes on the left, move and pick up the relic in the centre of the table.
The land speeder on the left shoots at the old fire dragon unit
with its frag missiles out of its missiles launchers, its hits 6 of the dragons
and kill 3 of them, they flee from the onslaught back to my table edge. The
speeder in the centre of the table makes the final war walker explode which hit
5 guardians, killing 2 of them. The speeder and bikes on the right both shoot
at the wave serpent but fail to do anything thanks to the jink save. The centre
bikes shoot at the fire dragons, managing to down 4 of the aspect warriors. Unfortunately
for me they flee from the bikes, running off the board. The final shot is from the captain who manages
to down 2 guardians.
Combat, and the captain charges in to the guardians,
attempting to finish what he had started. The warlock steps in front though
issuing a challenge. With 5 guardians left I get to make 1 re-roll in the
combat, I think I will save it for the armour save. The warlock strikes first
but fails to penetrate the armour of the marine. He strikes back but misses all
but one attack, which wounds and gets past the rune armour... thank god for the
re-roll and I save. The combat is a draw.
 |
| The challenge! |
Eldar turn 4
With nothing much left on the table it’s a short turn. The
fleeing dragons continue running, almost on the table edge now. The dire avengers
make a brake for the field generator. The
wave serpent moves over the centre bikes, attempting to get a shot at the bike
holding the relic.
The wave serpent shoots at the relic holding bike and gets
3 wounds but all are saved, damn. The dire avengers attempt to shoot but also
fail to do anything.
The combat ends as the captain smashes with warlock aside
with his thunder hammer, no fancy re-roll saves him this time. But the guardians
hold regardless.
Marines turn 5
The relic holder moves off with the relic while most of the
bikes converge on my army.
A mixture of two speeders and a bike unit shoot at the wave
serpent and reduce it to a burning wreck, even though I passed 3 jink saves. A
unit of bikes shoot at the dire avengers and kill 3 of them.
Combat and the bikes that shot the dire avengers charge
them killing them all. The captain... well the guardians didn’t live, did you
expect anything different?
Eldar turn 5
The fire dragons run off the table...
End of game
Marines 6 – Eldar 0
Well that was quite a dramatic loss, it could have been 8 –
0 but I think I did terribly regardless. So have I learnt much from this
experience? Yes and no. Half of my defeat appeared to be down to army list, the
other purely down to my tactical blunders. So does that mean I should keep the
list as is until I stop making stupid mistakes? I don’t know. But either way
here are my comments from the game:
·
Fire dragons: keeping
them on the table would probably be the better option for the future. Keeping
them in reserve is not great, as I need them from the beginning I feel. Maybe
start with both on the table next game. IS 8 too many points? Possibly.
·
Guardians: they are
very slow and I’m using them as a fire support unit. Maybe I’m doing this
wrong? Maybe I should just use them to support other parts of the army instead
of using them as a battle line. OR just make them as cheap as possible and
objective grab. That might be the better idea. Next games have them follow the
war walkers and see what happens. If they aren’t useful, make them as cheap as
possible.
·
Bikes: the bikes did
really well for the marines; maybe I should try to use some. They would aid the
tanks a lot more than the rest of my army, so if I can sneak a squad in some
where it could be useful.
·
Long range weapons: my
lack of high strength weapons was a slight issue in this game but I can see it
being a bigger problem in the future. Maybe I should look into a dedicated
anti-tank unit like either a tooled up falcon or fire prism. What do you think?
·
Mysterious terrain:
The terrain defiantly was interesting this game, I guess I just have to learn
to roll with the punches; the force dome really screwed me over. If I got it
however... I don’t know. Just learn to live with it.
Well that’s me for this week. Leave comments and help me
improve this army list. What do you guys think?
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