Friday 2 November 2012

Angels descent... Eldar/Dark Eldar vs Blood angels 1500


It’s been a while but I have got back to my evolving eldar list again, and once again its up against my friends blood angels. I know it’s nothing new but it’s always fun playing against him. This 1500 point game is purge the alien with a dawn of war deployment.

Just so you know now, my camera was playing up this game so there aren't many pictures, and some of them are a little blurry. No idea why it was acting like this.

As it was been quite a while since I last played with this army (About 3 weeks is it?) I had to go over my last few games to see what I needed to do with it.
The first was using the wyches offensively, making sure I throw them down my opponent’s throat so they aren’t wasted. Second, not risking units by getting them out of their tanks too early. Don’t throw tanks into a death trap (I know its obvious, but I'm that stupid it seems) so keep them away when possible. And also target the key units first, kill the biggest threats don’t leave them unless you have no choice. So with that in mind I'm able to hopefully be able to stand a chance to win. But anyway I think I have got ahead of myself, here is my list for those who haven’t read the past battle reports:

Eldar 1499

Farseer – 148 (warlord – divide and conquer) w/ guardians
Runes of warding, runes of witness, spirit stones, singing spear, Guide, Doom

10 Guardians - 95
Scatter laser

10 Guardians - 95
scatter laser

10 Dire avengers - 120

Wave serpent - 115
scatter laser

6 Fire dragons - 96

Wave serpent - 115
scatter laser

6 Fire dragons - 96

Falcon - 135
Missile launcher

3 War walkers - 180
scatter laser x 6

Haemonculus - 55
venom blade

7 Wyches - 84
haywire grenades

Raider - 60

Ravager - 105


And my opponents list

Blood angels

Dante – 225 (warlord – master of offence)

10 Assault marines – 195 (combat squadded)
Melta gun, melta bomb

10 Tactical marines – 190 (combat squadded)
lascannon

Sanguinary guard – 200

Sanguinary guard – 200

Sanguinary priest – 75 w/ sanguinary guard
Jump pack

Honour guard – 115

5 Devastators – 145
Lascannon, 3 x missile launcher

5 Devastators – 145
Lascannon, 3 x missile launcher

I was not expecting this kind of list, never has he gone for a descent of angels list, but a welcome change. It’s a good job that I don’t list tailor otherwise I would be in for some trouble as I would have taken a hell of a lot more anti-tank weapons (as he normally takes a mechanised list) which would have been wasted. It will be an interesting game.

So we rolled for mission and deployment and got purge the alien with dawn of war deployment, and he wins the roll for deployment so selects his side of the table and deploys with all of his jump infantry in reserve and his tactical marines, honour guard and devastators on the table, not much to start with.

Blood angel deployment


In response I set up with the war walkers hidden and the less valuable tanks in front to protect the more valuable ones. I place a single unit of guardians on my far left flank to try to draw at least one unit of marines away from my army so I can focus my attention where it matters with less resistance. My farseer went at the back with the guardians again (I’m really not happy with placing him there) to guide the walkers.

My deployment


With set up complete we rolled to see if night fight was to be used turn 1 and it wasn’t, so no darkness to protect me. On the off chance I rolled to steal the initiative and I roll a 6!! So I steal it, after all its only fair as he stole it last time I played the blood angels, it all balances out in the end. So let battle commence.

Eldar turn 1

Ok he doesn’t have a great deal on the table so I need to cripple his anvil while I can before the hammer strikes. I cast guide on the war walkers with no problems but could not doom any one as they were out of range. Movement commenced and the walkers moved out of hiding and the tanks moved forward to engage the enemy (and hopefully jump out and kill his troops next turn). The ravager moves towards the combat squad on the left aided by the raider while the rest of the tanks are on the right.

Shooting begins with    the war walkers shooting at the combat squad in front of the devastator squad as I could only see 1 model in the devastators (would be a waste to kill 1 guy). Somehow from 24 guided shots I only manage to kill 3 of the 5 marines!! I guess the dice gods are against me for now. It takes the two wave serpents on the right to combine fire to kill the final two members of that combat squad but that was a lot more shots than it really should have taken (first blood!). The ravager shoots at the other half of the tactical squad and only kills 1 thanks to cover from a broken wall segment. Both guardian squads fire at whoever they can see and both fail to get past the 3+ armour. Finally the falcon shoots its two strength 8 shots into the honour guard and only kills 1 of the models out in the open. Not a great first turn shooting for me.

Blood angels turn 1

With not much on the table the honour guard move towards the bunker to try and avoid some shots next turn. Shooting begins with the tactical squads lascannon aiming at the raider, hitting, penetrating, but I manage to get the jink save. The devastators on the right shoot at the wave serpent holding the fire dragons but all the shots fail to penetrate or get jinked off (I'm very lucky at this point). The final squad of devastators shoot at the war walkers and manage to wreck the front 2, that balances out the turn I feel.

Eldar turn 2

I guide the single walkers again and do not doom. The army again moves forward but I change my mind, instead of getting the fire dragons out to shoot this turn I reason that if I do that, the sanguinary guard will just nuke them next turn and they will be wasted. So I keep them in the transports for this turn. Same logic for the wyches as I doubt they will make it into contact with anyone this turn (ok I’m not following the plan for these guys, I will sort it).

The lone war walker can see the devastators in from of him this time now he has moved to the side and with his 8 shots manages to kill 4 marines!!! That is stupidly good luck and I feel bad for my opponent at this point. A wave serpent adds his fire power into the last remaining devastator and he dies under the weight of shots at him. A combination of guardians, the raider and ravager manage to finish off the last of the honour guard so they can’t become an issue later in the game. The left side guardians manage to snipe a single tactical marine with their scatter laser.

Blood angels turn 2

The angels descend
Commander Dante is known for his strategic genius and this battle Is no different, he organised his troops well and every single unit in reserve comes into play. One unit of sanguinary guard deep strikes behind the falcon and lock on, landing on target, the other behind the ravager, lock on, half of the assault marines go next to the falcon but scatters behind it, the other half goes between the falcon and wave serpent, lock on, and finally Dante is placed on his own behind the dire avenger wave serpent.  No more movement.

Dante sounds the signal and the army opens fire. Dante shoots at the wave serpent right in front of him just it jinks out the way of the penetrating shot. The assault marines with the melta gun penetrate the falcon and shake it (damn, the fire dragons are not useless inside it). The devastator squad shoots at the dire avengers wave serpent and explodes the tank, causing 5 wounds on the passengers but all wounds are saved. They fail their pinning test however and are pinned. Luckily for me 1 assault marines dies in the explosion. The sanguinary guard shoot into the rear of the fire dragon wave serpent but fail to do anything. The assault marines shoot the dire avengers killing 1 and the sanguinary guard next to the ravager strip 2 hull points off it.

The sanguinary guard target the ravager


Eldar turn 3

I have some serious thinking to do here, if I play this badly I'm going to lose from this point onwards, that’s a lot of 2+ armour I have to get rid of and a lot of combat ability. Starting I cast doom on one half of the assault marines but it gets denied. So I guide the unit of guardians’ the farseer is with.
Movement starts with the war walker going towards Dante, if I can hold him up I might be able to save the dire avengers from him. The guardians on the right move closer to get as many guns as possible on the assault marines near them. The wave serpent holding the dragons move forward and release the dragons, hoping to kill the sanguinary guard. Turning to face its attacker the ravager turns to face the sanguinary guard. The raider moves forward and unloads the wyches who move towards the devastators.

Releasing its dark light weapons the ravager downs two of the sanguinary guard next to it, the guardians try to help but all their shots bounce off the 2+ save. The dragons out of their transport fire at the sanguinary guard in front of them but I roll 4 1’s to hit, and only kill 1 of them... they are going to kill the dragons next turn. The pilot of the wave serpent seems this failure and shows up the dragons and kills a single guard. With the vast amount of shots the guardians can muster (23) only 1 assault marines falls. Unloading its barrels on Dante the war walker wreaks hell and takes a single wound off the chapter master of the blood angels. Everyone else misses their shots.

Combat begins with the wyches charging the devastators, who go into over watch and manage to blow a wych away with a shot with a lascannon shot. In combat the wyches fail to kill any one and take 2 casualties in return. The haemonculus steps up to the mark, killing a single marine with his venom blade. I hold after losing combat by 1. The war walker also charges this turn and goes into Dante, neither do any damage to the other but then Dante uses his hit and run ability to escape (I didn't realise he had this) making me assault a little pointless.

Dante's position after hit and run


Blood angles turn 3

On the right the sanguinary guard walk towards the guardians, Dante jumps behind the stunned falcon while the assault marines go to the dragons aided by their fellow combat squad. The left side sanguinary guard move between the guardians and the ravager.

Aiming once more at the ravager, the tactical squad hits but it jinks at the last second keeping it alive. The sanguinary guard then take it upon themselves to finish it and get a final glance wrecking it. Dante then blows off the missile launcher off the falcon. The assault marines shoot at the dragons and kill 2 of them. The sanguinary guard on the right shoots at the guardians and rip 5 of them apart.

Dante’s war cry can be heard as he charges into the falcon aided by a combat squad of assault marines and wreck the tank leaving the fire dragons in the wreckage. Assault marines charge the dragons who disembarked before and just murder them, i take more wounds than I even have in the squad. The sanguinary guard charge the guardians and kill them all including the farseer gaining the warlord point. The wych combat is a draw as no one dies.

The fire dragons are in trouble after the falcon is wrecked


Eldar turn 4

As Dante is now free I need him dead, so I move the raider back to try and instant kill him with the dark lance. If he dies that’s 2 victory points, so he’s my primary target right now. The guardians on the left (only ones know) move towards the sanguinary guard to get as many shots on them as is possible before they charge them (better than getting charged). The dire avengers move towards the assault marines.

So the moment of truth, if the raider can kill Dante, the dragons can burn an assault marines unit, if not they will have to target him. The raider hits, wounds, but he makes his invulnerable save from the iron halo. The dragons now have to shoot at him, I get 4 hits, 3 wounds, and he fails 1 save, he dies (warlord). Unleashing all their shots the dire avengers shoot at the assault marines but all the wounds are saved. The remaining wave serpent shoots at the assault marines and manages to kill a single marine. The war walkers also shoot at the assault marines and kill a single marine as well. The guardians shoot at the sanguinary guard, I doubt it will do much but somehow I kill 2!! Leaving 1 alive.

Combat starts with the dire avengers charging the assault marines but I fail to do any wounds and take one in return, I fail the leadership test and run but manage to escape. The guardians charged the sanguinary guard and manage to drag down the marine before e can swing with his axe. The wyches kill 2 marines and take no loses, the marines run and escape but only run 3 inches... not even far enough to run off the table. That’s going to be irritating and they will regroup next turn.

The dire avengers flee


Blood angles turn 4

The devastators regroup and move forward towards the raider. One combat squad of assault marines moves towards the wyches while the other moves slightly closer to the dragons.

Shooting, the tactical marine’s lascannon shoots but misses the raider. The devs shoot at the wave serpent but miss. The assault marines, who moved to the wyches shoot, but they live due to feel no pain. The sanguinary guard kill 4 dire avengers with their bolters.

Avenging their chapter master assault marines charge the fire dragons killing 2 but losing 1 of their number, but I hold. The sanguinary guard charge the dire avengers, I pass my leadership test but they get cut down by the power weapons. The assault marines charge the wyches and I lose a wych and kill a marine, drawn combat.



Eldar turn 5

We roll for night fight and still no night.  The guardians move to see the sanguinary guard as does the raider.
The raider shoots and downs a guard while the guardians fail to do anything. The wave serpent shoots at the two devastators killing both of them.
Wyches lose one of their number to the marines and deal no damage back but I hold and don’t run. The combat between the dragons and the assault marines is a draw with no one inflicting any damage.



Blood angels turn 5

The sanguinary guard move towards the wyches while the lascannon marine shoots at the wave serpent but misses again.
Combat and the sanguinary guard charge the wyches and kill 1 (thanks to dodge) and I fail to do any damage. I run this time and get cut down. The dragons vs assault marines ends with my dragons holding again after losing a single member of the squad.

We roll to see if the game carries on and it does, still no night fighting.

Eldar turn 6

With nothing much left on the table I shoot the guardians at the tactical marines but fail to do any damage. The wave serpent shoots at the lone assault marine and get two shots past its armour save but as its about a inch from the sanguinary priest and passes two feel no paint saves.
The war walker than charges in to help the fire dragons but fails to do any damage but the poor dragons take two wounds and the lone survivor runs.

Blood angels turn 6

Shooting has the devs take a hull point off the wave serpent and the priest charges after the lone fire dragon and he is cut down.

The fire dragon just before he gets cut down


The game then ends

Blood angels 11 (Warlord, 10 units destroyed) – Eldar 8 (first blood, warlord, 6 units destroyed)

So another loss for me but it was a very close game and very enjoyable. Facing a list like this was cool and makes a nice change from the meched up army he normally brings against me. So that was my 3rd game with this list so I now have to go on to evolve it again. So what shined in this game, and what didn’t do so well?

·         Wave serpents: They did well, and with a lot of people online saying the drop them I'm tempted but I just can’t see why. They have ok shooting ability and keep my valuable units safe. I might drop the wave serpent in favour of a second falcon though for the dragons and just drop the transports for the dire avengers. I don’t know, it’s hard to decide fully.
·         Guardians: They aren’t great, I might drop one for a unit of rangers or a second squad of dire avengers. I just can’t keep two units at this points level.
·         Farseer: I need somewhere else to put this guy, the guardians isn’t a great place to put him. So dire avenger’s maybe? I'm going to drop the singing spear as I couldn’t do anything with it. Would a warlock body guard be any good? Possibly too expensive though.
·         Dark elder: they are doing well, I will keep them in the list, and I might even add a unit of warriors as it will give me another unit to hold objectives.
·         Tactics: I know I lost this game but I'm not sure how I could have improved it, please tell me what you would have done differently to win this game.

So that’s it for this game I need to improve my list and play my next game. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed playing it.
  

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