The Emperors Anvil... Eldar vs Imperial gaurd 1500

Again I take my Eldar out for a game and this time they face the anvil of the imperium, the Imperial Guard. I will be testing out another few units to see how they act working together in this 1500 point game of Big guns never tire, with dawn of war deployment.

The Armies

Eldar 1497

Farseer – 100 (0,1,2)

Spiritseer – 70 (0,2)

5 Wraithguard – 210

D-sycth

Wave serpent – 135

Holo field, bright lance

5 Wraithguard – 210

D-sycth

Wave serpent – 135

Holo field, bright lance

16 Guardians – 164

Scatter laser

8 Striking scorpions – 149

Exarch, scorpions claw

6 Warp spiders – 114

3 War walkers – 210

Scatter laser, star cannon

Again this list is a bit of an experiment, the scorpions are the new unit I'm trying out, hopefully infiltrating them will do the army some good. I wanted to try out the D-sycth again as I didn’t really get a good test out of them last game. Imperial guard might be a good test, we shall see. The farseer is to see if I am correct or not about them being useless.

Imperial guard

Company command – 175

Stracken, master of ordinance

Penal Legion – 80

Chimera – 65

Hunter killer missile

Penal Legion – 80

Chimera – 65

Hunter killer missile

Veteran Squad – 205

Harker, lascannon, 2 x plasma guns, forward sentries

Infantry Platoon

Infantry command – 25

Infantry Squad – 70

Lascannon

Infantry Squad – 70

Lascannon

Heavy weapon team – 80

3 x lascannon

Guardsman Marbo - 65

5 Storm troopers – 115

2 x plasma gun

5 Storm troopers – 115

2 x plasma gun

Leman Russ Battle tank – 215

Pask, Lascannon

Griffon – 75

A foot list with only a small amount of tanks to back it up, this could be interesting. I don’t have a great amount of anti-tank weapons so I will have to go after the tanks with the wave serpents. The infantry will be a nice test for the flame guard and guardians. I am ridiculously out numbered, meaning if I don’t play this carefully I will be over run very quickly.

The Mission

We rolled for mission and got Big guns never tire, with only 3 objectives. Deployment was dawn of war, it was nice to get a straightforward deployment for once. I won the roll for deployment zone and we placed objectives, we ended up with one in each ruin in our deployment zone (my objective was a targeting relay, his was nothing special) and the last in-between the walls outside the temple of khorne (sabotaged). I won the roll for going first and set up both wave serpents forwards with the war walkers hidden behind. The guardians held my objective joined by the farseer and spiritseer. Warp spiders were placed on the right and I infiltrated the scorpions.

Imperial guard then countered my set up by placing the griffon on the far left and pask in the middle. A chimera flanked each side of the battle tank, empty, with a storm trooper squad behind each one aiming to embark turn 1. Both Penal legions went on the right, aided by the platoon command while the veterans and an infantry platoon hiding in the woods.  On the left the remaining infantry platoon was placed backed up by Stracken. The heavy weapon team set up at the back behind the chimera. Marbo was kept in reserve.

I set up infiltrating scorpions on the left hand side behind the woods aiming to take out the griffon.

Night Fight: No

Steal the Initiative: No

The Battle

Eldar turn 1

I start with my powers, casting guide on the walkers, conceal and embolden onto the guardians. The warp spiders warp jump forwards 11 inches into the temple of khorne, while the wave serpents move forwards as do the scorpions.

Shooting starts with both wave serpents targeting the Russ battle tank but only 1 hits and gets a glancing hit. The war walkers shoot at the chimera on the left and wreck it with glancing hits. Both the warp spiders and scorpions then run forwards.

Imperial guard turn 1

With the impending scorpions the griffon moves back to the left, while stricken moves forwards to meet the threat head on. The storm troopers on the right get into the chimera and it drives forwards. Pask drives forwards and the heavy weapons team shuffles about to see a new target as the wreck of the chimera block their view. Both penal legions surge forwards backed up by the platoon command and a infantry squad.

Orders can be heard across the battle field as stracken yells First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire! On the scorpions, and under the sheer weight of shots 5 scorpions die. The heavy weapons team are told to fire on my target! Aiming at the wave serpent but the shots fail to connect. With orders out the way the storm troopers on the left shoot at the scorpions and thanks to two look out sir rolls the exarch survives but unfortunately his remaining 2 brothers die. Stracken shoots at the exarch, but the exarch shows his abilities and survives. Pask shoots at a wave serpent but the shot scatters off target. The storm troopers in the chimera target a wave serpent with plasma fire, but 1 over heats, killing its user. Fairing much better, the veterans target the wave serpent on the right and get 2 glances on the tank. A lowly guardsman of the infantry platoon shoots at the damaged wave serpent with a lascannon and wrecks it. The penal legion run back as the griffon target the guardians, but the shot scatters a single inch, right on top of my spiritseer... 8 models are hit and 7 look out sir rolls later 3 guardians lay dead. The very last roll fails and the spiritseer fails his armour save... damn.

Eldar turn 2

The farseer casts doom on the chimera, and guide on the spiders. Moving towards the guardsmen in the ruin, the wave serpent spins round and drops off the wraithguard. The other wraithguard walk forwards and the warp spiders jump 15 inches towards the guard. The war walkers move to see the penal legion.

Shooting starts with the guardians shooting at the chimera with the scatter laser but fail to do anything, the farseer uses split fire and casts execute on the penal legion but fails to kill any. The remaining wave serpent glances the battle tank on the left, so it only has 1 hull point left. Spouting distortion from their D-Sycthes the wraithguard on the left kill all 10 of the infantry platoon on the left in the ruin. On the right the warp spiders shoot at the platoon command and kill every one of them with monofilament, then using battle focus, they run back towards the khorne temple. Taking aim, the war walkers shoot at the penal legion at the front of the guard line and manage to kill every man.

The first assault of the game and the scorpion exarch charges into the griffon, he makes it in and manages to explode the vehicle with its scorpion claw.

Imperial guard turn 2

Marbo enters from reserve and appears next to the wraithguard on the right. The remaining penal legion move forwards towards the eldar line. The infantry platoon and veterans go after the warp spiders and storm troopers go after the wraithguard on the left. Stracken his command squad towards the exarch determined to kill him. Driving towards the wraithguard on the left the chimera drops of the storm troopers.

Orders again start the shooting phase with the heavy weapons team is told to ‘BRING IT DOWN’ on the wave serpent, they glance it twice. The storm troopers shoot at the wraithguard on the left bringing 2 down (but 1 trooper dies to an exploding plasma gun), the other unit shoots at it as well, killing an extra 1 (and another trooper dies). Pask shoots at the wave serpent and takes off its last hull point, wrecking it. Marbo throws his demo charge at the wraithguard on the right but it scatters and only hits 3, killing them. Attempting to earn their redemption, the penal legion shoot at the warp spiders, killing 1. Following suit the veterans shoot at the warp spiders and kill a further 3. In an attempt to finish the spiders off the chimera shoots at them but their armour finally protects them. The infantry platoon shoots its lascannon at the war walkers and it’s a perfect shot, exploding the closest one.

Assault phase and Stracken charges into the exarch, and he issues a challenge to Stracken. Using all his skill the exarch is able to inflict 2 wounds on stricken, but unfortunately he can’t kill him. Stracken then puts his fist though the scorpion’s chest, killing him.

Eldar turn 3

In a desperate attempt to destroy the russ, the farseer casts doom on it, and guides the war walkers. Both wraithguard units move towards the russ. In an attempt to warp jump to the chimera, a single spider emerges from the warp, the other disappeared without a trace.

Summoning his powers the farseer attempts to execute Marbo but only deals a single wound to him, but the guardians are able to mow him down with the scatter laser. Hunting convicts again, the war walkers shoot at the penal legion and kill 8 models, leaving 2 alive. The warp spider runs towards the penal legion and then kill 1. The wraithguard on the right attempt to flame the chimera, but fail to do anything, and the wraithguard on the left attempt to finish pask but fail to get past the armour.

Assault phase and the wraithguard on the right attempt to charge the chimera but roll snake eyes...

Imperial guard turn 3

Strecken and friends move towards the wraithguard as the infantry move towards the warp spiders, as do the veterans. Pask moves forwards, as the chimera parks in front of the wraithguard on the right, blocking them in.

Shooting phase and no orders this time, the storm troopers combine fire and it takes both squads to finish the wraithguard on the left. The veterans shoot at the remaining wraithguard and kill a single model, but a plasma gun over heats and its wielder dies. Pask targets the war walkers and locks on with hits shot, hitting both, which both penetrate but the force field absorbs all of the force leaving them unscathed. Again the lascannon guy of the infantry squad has perfect aiming as he kills off the final wraithguard.

Eldar turn 4

Again the farseer casts doom on Pask and guide on the war walkers. The warp spider jumps and makes it behind pask.

Shooting and the warp spider fails to hit the battle tank in the rear armour with a double 1... well done. The farseer executes 2 more guardsmen and the scatter laser kills off 2 more. The war walkers shoot at the veterans and kill off 8, leaving the heavy weapons team who runs off the table.

Assault phase, and the warp spider jumps and hides in some rocks.

Imperial guard turn 4

The whole imperial army faces the lone warp spider, they really don’t seem to like warp spiders for some reason.

The storm troopers are the ones to down the lone spider. Pask shoots at the war walkers but it scatter and kill 2 guardians. The lascannon sniper aims at the war walkers and again penetrates the vehicles armour but the force field saves it. The chimera shoots at the guardians and manages to wound the farseer and kill off 3 guardians but they hold.

Eldar turn 5

The farseer casts guide on the war walkers and I pray for a good turn.

The war walkers shoot at the guardsmen left and kill 3 of them, leaving 3. The guardians then shoot at the 3 remaining and kill them off.

Imperial guard turn 5

Going more for a gung hoe approach my opponent forgoes objectives and attempts to table me. Stracken gets in a chimera and it drives towards the guardians. Pask and the lone penal legion move towards to central objective but its more to get a better line of sight.

The heavy weapons team shoots at the war walkers and wrecks 1, and then pask shoots at them, glancing the last 1 and killing a guardian. The penal legion attempts to run to the objective but doesn’t get far enough.

We roll to see if the game carries on and it ends.

Eldar: 4 (objective, first blood) – Imperial guard: 0

Post-Battle

That was a close game, if it carried on a turn I would easily have been tabled. As I got lucky it didn’t and I won as my opponent ignored objectives. The more I use farseers the more I like them and the more I use D-Scythes the less I like them. It was an interesting game.

I can’t help but feel the points cost of the wraithguard is a little much when given scythes, so I won’t be using them again, I will attempt to use regular D cannons and see how that does. The spiritseer let me down but that was an unlucky roll more than anything else. The scorpions were nice and I will use them again if I have the points.

Now that I have used a lot of units I think I will start my evolving list again, and see where that takes me. I think I have a good idea of how the list will form but let’s not go into that now. Hope you enjoyed the battle report.