Friday 2 October 2015

Renegades and Heretics vs Dark Eldar 1500: Venom strike


A new guy has started coming to the gaming club and was after a 1500 point game of 40k, so I gladly obliged with the renegades as I'm enjoying using them at the moment. He brought out dark eldar and we played a mealstrom of war game. I'm out of practice facing fast forces.


The Armies

Renegades and Heretics: Combined arms detachment

Renegade Command Squad – 80 (warlord: lead by example)
covenant of nurgle, lascannon, krack grenades
Chimera - 70
autocannon, heavy bolter, militia training

40 zombies - 120

20 mutants - 60
shot guns, unnatural senses

Renegade Platoon
Renegade command - 90
20 men, demagogue, 2x flamers, chaos sigil, krack grenades

Infantry squad - 105
20 men, demagogue, 2x plasma gun, chaos sigil, krack grenades

Infantry squad - 50
10 men, 2x melta gun
Chimera - 60
autocannon, heavy flamer

3 Ogryn - 240
mark of nurgle, carapace armour

Devil dog - 125
heavy flamer

2 Leman russ battle tanks – 280

Heavy ordinance battery – 160
2x medusa cannon

2 Heavy mortars – 60

Total: 1500

With this list I decided to not use militia training across the board like I normally use, instead favouring getting more bodies on the table. I don't know if it will work, but that's why we experiment, to find out.

Dark Eldar: Realspace raiders detachment

Lhamaean (warlord: tactical genius)
venom
2x splinter cannon

Lhamaean
venom
2x splinter cannon

5 warriors
blaster
venom
2x splinter cannon

5 warriors
blaster
venom
2x splinter cannon

5 wracks
2x liquifier
venom
2x splinter cannon

Venom
2x splinter cannon

venom
2x splinter cannon

venom
2x splinter cannon

venom
2x splinter cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter
4x necrotoxin missiles, splinter cannon, dark lances

5 Scourges
2x haywire blaster

Ravager
night shields, dark lance, 2x disintegrator

Ravager
night shields, dark lance, 2x disintegrator

Ravager
night shields, dark lance, 2x disintegrator

This list is something that I have only read about, never faced. And its going to be a real nightmare for my infantry to face. If only I had more tanks and I would be loving it. I wasn't really sure what to do looking at this, so lets just see what happens.

The Mission

Rolling on the mealstrom of war table we get tactical escalation with hammer and anvil deployment. As the game progresses we get more tactical objective cards, so it could end in a big score at the end of the game.

I win the roll for deployment zone selecting the one with more objectives close to it. He then wins the roll to deploy first and selects to do so. He deploys his scourges in the centre on the ruin in his deployment zone. He then deploys a ravager on the left supported by three venoms. In the centre a ravager supported by two venoms deploy in the ruin, and on the right a ravager with 4 supporting venoms. In reserve his razorwing jetfighter starts. I think the wracks were in a venom on the right, and the warriors are both on the left. The lhamaeans I think were In the centre.

My deployment has the battle tanks at the back of the left hand side with both of the chimeras in front of them. On the left the infantry squad deploy ready to push forwards and hopefully krack a vehicle. I place the heavy mortars in the middle behind terrain to hopefully keep them alive. The medusas deploy on the right with the zombies and ogryn in front of them. I place the devil dog on the far right and the infantry command deploy behind it. The mutants outflank.

Deployment

Night fight: No
Steal the initiative: No

The Battle

Dark Eldar turn 1

The raid begins, and the dark eldar move towards their pray. First the scourges jump off the ruin towards my lines but one gets its wing caught and plunges to its death thanks to dangerous terrain. On the left the venoms and ravager move forwards while on the right they are a little more cautious. In the centre two venoms move on top of the ruin.
The right flank holds back

4 venoms shoot at the infantry squad on the left, and they just get shredded, ripped apart by all of the splinters flying around but 2 survive. Not happy with this he finished them off with a ravager, first blood to the dark eldar. A single dark lance shot from the ravager on the right shoots at the devil dog and blows a track off, immobilising it before it can even move. Haywire shots from the scourges target the closest chimera to them and take a single hull point off it. The remaining venoms shoot at the ogryn and roll terribly, only taking 2 wounds off a single guy.

Score: First blood, No prisoners

Dark Eldar: 2 – Renegades: 0


Renegades turn 1

All of my infantry moves forwards as I need to charge them and grab objectives. The chimera with infantry in moves forwards out the way of the battle tanks.

Trying to get rid of a ravager, the medusa targets it and can clip a venom next to it. The ravager jinks but both shots scatter off an miss. Both battle tanks targets a venom with warriors inside, and manages to hit it and clip the scourges. The venom explodes killing 3 of the warriors inside, and 3 scourges also die. The command chimera targets at a venom on the ruin, but fails to do anything. However the lascannon shoots from its back hatch, and immobilises the venom. The heavy mortars shoot at the same ravager as the medusa, and manage to glance it, taking off a hull point.

Score: 0

Dark eldar: 2 – Renegades: 0


Dark eldar turn 2

In from reserve comes the razorwing, and it goes after the battle tanks. The ravager in the middle stops on top of difficult terrain and gets immobilised. On the right the ravager and venoms move forwards. Moving ever closer the scourges get very close to the front chimera.
The chimera falls

Haywire shots from the scourges target the front chimera and reduces it to 1 hull point, allowing a ravager to wreck it, and pinning the infantry bailing out. Shots from the razorwing target the battle tanks but fail to do anything to their armour. 2 venoms target the heavy mortars and manage to destroy one of the guys and a crewman. 3 venoms target the ogryn and unfortunately kill them all this turn. And as he had 2 with no real target, 2 venoms kill 4 zombies.

Score: 0

Dark eldar: 2 – Renegades: 0


Renegades turn 2

In from reserve the mutants outflank, on the right next to an objective that I need, taking it. The zombies and infantry still move up and everything else holds its ground.
I forgot to bring a medusa, so i had to improvise

With venoms have come into range of the devil dog which can clip 2 of them, they jink as they are both hit, 1 gets stunned, and the other loses a hull point. Battle tank fire targets the immobilised ravager and again they explode a dark eldar vehicle. But a venom is clipped as well and it takes a glancing hit, doing well so far this game. On the right the medusa target the ravager and immobilise it with a direct hit as well as clipping a venom and blowing off a splinter cannon. Heavy mortar fire targets a weakened venom and wrecks it, forcing his warlord out but he manages to get into cover.

Score: objective 5 and 6.

Dark eldar: 2 – Renegades: 2


Dark eldar turn 3

The razorwing carries on towards the battle tanks while a venom jumps behind them to try and take an objective. He doesn't really move his venoms, but his scourges get into the ruin in front of the mortars and the warriors on the ground go to objective 4.

Just about able to see the chimera, the flyer hits it and explodes it with his dark lances, killing 2 of the command squad as well as 9 of the infantry in the open. Shooting from the back of venoms is enough to kill off my warlord gaining slay the warlord. Flaming off the back of their venom, the wracks burn the mutants, killing off 10 of them with ease. Venom fire shoots at the mutants and brings down 4 more. More zombies die to venom fire and one of them boosts to disrupt the objective held by the battle tanks. End of the phase and the lone guy runs for it.

Score: recon, psychological warfare, slay the warlord

Dark Eldar: 5 – Renegades: 2


Renegades turn 3

The mutants grab their objective, the dark eldar will never take it so long as they live, my most loyal servants never let me down. Shambling forwards, the zombies carry on walking up.

Again the devil dog targets the venoms but the shot falls short. The medusa wreck the ravager on the right while the battle tanks blow a disintegrator off the ravager on the left. I try to take out a damaged venom with the heavy mortar but it fails to do anything.

Score: objective 6

Dark eldar: 5 – Renegades: 3


Dark eldar turn 4

Again the flyer carries on going forwards. The venoms move to bully the remaining mutants while another goes right in front of the medusas.
The suicidal venom

Dark lance fire from the jetfighter shakes a leman russ, but a blaster from the back of a venom targets the russ as well and explodes the tank killing the lone running guy. The venom transporting the warriors shoots at the heavy mortar and kills off a single crewman. Spitting in the face of my medusa crew, the venom right in front of them shoots at them but only kills a single crew member. Again the liquifier targets the mutants and melts every one of them. The venoms have no choice but to shoot at the zombies and kill 3 of them, my reliable wall of corpses never die quickly.

Score: objective 6, objective 4

Dark eldar: 7 – Renegades: 3


Renegades turn 4

With very little left to do, the zombies move into the middle of the table while the infantry left move towards the venoms on the right getting ready to flame them.
The infantry charge

As the venom next to the medusa is in half range of the devil dog, it manages to hit it, penetrate it and explode it with ease. The infantry flame the the venoms in front of them, glance one and kill 2 wracks in the transport, taking out a flamer. Alone, the leman russ is unable to do any damage to the dark eldar vehicles, the heavy mortar scatters off the remaining ravager, and the medusas miss as well.

Assault phase and the infantry multi-charge the two venoms and make it into combat. They manage to wreck 1 forcing out the wracks, but the other gets away with 1 hull point.

Score: Big game hunter

Dark eldar: 7 – Renegades: 4


Dark eldar turn 5

his flyer is forced to change its course and so turns across the board towards my devil dog. The venoms move away from my infantry as do the wracks.

My opponent informs me that his flyer has a 180 line of sight with his missiles, so he fires all 4 of his missiles at the infantry who are bunched up after charging his venoms. He gets 36 hits, and just wipes out the infantry unit with ease. Venom fire again targets the zombies and kill about 6. Again venom fire targets the heavy mortar and deals 1 wound to the gun itself. Blaster fire explodes the remaining russ.

Score: objective 4, objective 1, objective 2 assassinate

Dark Eldar: 11 – Renegades: 4


Renegades turn 5

I have very little left, but I wont go down with out a fight. The zombies move towards his dark eldar warriors as they wont be able to charge his warlord. The medusas blow a venom out the sky, shattering it to pieces. The heavy mortar manages to kill 2 of the 3 remaining wracks, shame 1 lived. Devil dog and it attempts to kill another venom but misses.

Zombies attempt to charge the warriors, they kill the front zombie in over watch which just makes the zombies fail their charge.

Score: Overwhelming fire power

Dark Eldar: 11 – Renegades: 5

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

Line breaker for the dark eldar

Dark Eldar: 12 – Renegades: 5

Victory to the Dark Eldar.

Post-Battle

Well that was a new experience for my renegades, an army that had enough fire power to easily remove my infantry. Thankfully my tanks held up for a little so I could take down a couple of his vehicles which let me stay in the game.

My list was an issue here but I will go into that later. What let me down the most was my target priority. When I targeted something, and he jinked, I should have then left it alone as it drastically reduced his fire power. I could try and kill a venom, or I could just stop several of his venoms from getting more than 1 or 2 hits. With my blasts generally being dangerous he would have to jink before I roll to hit, so even though I will likely miss, he will probably jink. So with 4 different blasts, I could stop 4+ vehicles shooting much each turn. This might have given my infantry a little bit more time to krack his vehicles.

The list was far to slow and unable to grab objectives. The infantry was exposed. So next time I need to either have more infantry or give them transports. Having bs 2 meant I wasted points on plasma guns and melta guns, I should have just had flamers and krack grenades to take out his tanks. If I have units of 10 with 2 flamers in chimeras they might be able to drive by and kill some infantry. I just need to mess around with the list a lot more. The ogryns were disappointing, but such is life.

I need to shake the list up a lot, try something very new. I might start an evolving list for my renegades and see where it goes.

Anyway that will do for now, hope you enjoyed the battle report.

12 comments:

  1. I think the Ogryns are very overpriced in IA13, compare their stats to spawn and you will see what I mean.

    Don't beat yourself up over this though, every list has its hard counter and DE are really hard on all hordes. Perhaps giving a couple of units of infantry autocannons and Tzeentch covenant might help. Have you looked into Vengeance Weapons Batteries? I find they work brilliantly with my Renegades and are half the price of a Russ. AV14 spam combined with infantry hordes is a good recipe as it wastes all that medium strength weight of fire that most people have these days.



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    1. I know the ogryns are rather overpriced, but i wanted to use them as i just love the models, they really are amazing.

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  2. Ah, MSU Venom spam, haven't seen that in a while. Another great report and a joy to read !

    Quick points, The lharmaean is fine to be the warlord (as there are no other charcters) but as she is not a character she does not get a warlord trait. Also I think the LOS on the razorwings missiles was very generous, but shows how nasty their one shot missiles can be :)

    I think your thoughts on target prioirty is right, if you can make the DE jink it's reduces their firepower and turns the game into a war of attrition rather than a speedy alpha strike that the DE like to do. With a few more mech units to give you more mobility I think you'd do fine in a rematch.

    The DE list was also very lopsided, if he faced a mech force it could be a very very hard game for him, with so few good anti tank units. However reading about the game makes me want to bring my razorwing out again, if the enemy has flyers or skyfire it doesn't do well, but all is forgiven when it does a one turn annihilation of a unti with it's missiles (reminds me of the Skyray in Dawn of War computer game, when it unleashes it's missiles all at once).

    Rathstar

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    1. I totally forgot none characters didn't get traits, thank you for reminding me! i really need to remember that rule in the future.

      What do you believe the LOS of the razorwing should have been? i have no idea what it is.

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    2. I've always played it as a fixed weapon mount, so only 90', ie. 45' from straight forward, however I normally play a conversative ruling with my own razorwing to be safe. The missiles are mounted straight forward with no way to pivot and there's nothing to suggest they are heat seeking or anything like that, so to me they look like that can't move anymore than the heavy bolter or lascannon on the front hull of a leman russ so I go with 90' arc.

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  3. Great report, keep up the good work.

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  4. "My opponent informs me that his flyer has a 180 line of sight with his missiles, so he fires all 4 of his missiles at the infantry who are bunched up after charging his venoms." I read that and the first thing that popped into my head was, "The hell he does!" I am pretty sure this guy played you there and the damage he did with it may have cost you some kinda moral victory, even if a real victory was likely out of hand by then.

    You nailed it spot on regarding dealing with D. Eldar and skimmers in general. Keep them jinking. Hit all of them with at least one threatening weapon and he won't be able to hit back.

    Great report, fun to read.

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    1. The infantry getting nuked was more insult to injury than anything else, but what do you think the line of sight should have been?

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  5. Awesome, another Renegade batrep! And against my other favourite army, no less! To be honest I cringed a little when I read the Dark Eldar list. Venomspam vs your 'average' list? Uh oh...

    So I was happy to see you fight back like you did! If you fight him again I'd suggest playing the Devil Dog as a Hellhound and borrowing a Wyvern or 2 if you can. A Hydra would make short work of the Razorwing and his skimmers, and a Bombard also wouldn't go amiss. Great batrep for sure, thanks for sharing!

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    1. Im glad you enjoyed the report and i was always going to try. Hopefully we should have a rematch soon and i will fare a little better.

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  6. Awesome report man, condolences on the lose. Like others have pointed out, 180 degrees on the missiles doesn't feel right, and I say that as a dark eldar player.

    One thing to keep in mind if you play him again, while you're spot on with the thoughts regarding target priorety, things work different if he has raiders, or the right things are in the venoms. Jinking doesn't affect the passengers, so if they have decent guns you might still want to keep putting shots in it.

    Either way, loved seeing two of my favorite armies going at it on some bad ass terrain! Looking forward to reading more batreps!

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