Battle Report - Eldar vs Space Marines 1600pts

Another Thursday, another grand battle between Ruben and Chris. And another really long Battle Report...

We had initially decided that we would play 1500pts and that Ruben would have a change and play his Space Marines. There were a few new units/tactics he wanted to try out which left him short on points so we increased to 1600pts - this was fine for me as I wanted to include some more expensive units too.


Set-up

I rolled for the mission and got The Scouring - 6 objectives of different value. We mutually decided to play Dawn of War deployment (we reckon it's more fun). I picked sides and Ruben picked to deploy and go first.

Learning from previous games, Ruben deployed his Scouts in a building on his right with Camo Cloaks and Improved Ruins which would mean they would get a 2+ cover save. His tactical squad was in the same building and spread out along his Aegis Defence line with the Icarus Lascannon sitting on the top floor of the building - very nice placement. His Whirlwind was behind the same ruins while the Predator and Sternguard with HQ were behind the building on Ruben's left. Finally, his Dreadnaught was on Ruben's far left in the corner with a great field of fire. Both Terminator squads and Vanguard were left in reserve.

In response, I hid everything. Both the Falcon (with the Fire Dragons) and Wave Serpent (with Eldrad and the Wraithguard) were hidden behind ruins with a squad of Jetbikes each in support. The Dark Reapers and Rangers were hidden inside the ruins on the left and right respectively while the Harlequins were in some trees in the middle of the board. The only unit in the open (a little deliberately) was the Dire Avengers. I left the Swooping Hawks in reserve.

Ruben's turn 1
I didn't steal the initiative and Ruben didn't really move, instead opening up on his main threats - the Wave Serpent and the Dire Avengers. The Dire Avengers were shot at with the Whirlwind, Scouts and the HQ's Conversion Beamer but were lucky with saves (and Ruben's unlucky rolls) so only 4 died - sadly the Exarch was included in the dead following a precision shot.

One of the Rangers was killed by one of the three Space Marines in range. The Wave Serpent attracted Lascannon fire from the Predator and Autocannon fire from the Dreadnaught.

At this point, it's worth pointing out that Ruben had terrible luck in this game. When firing at the Wave Serpent with 3 Las Cannons from the Predator, Ruben managed to roll two 1s and a 2. Luckily he could re-roll the two and cause a hit - which was ignored due to a cover save. The Autocannon equally did nothing.

Finally, the Icarus Las Cannon fired into the side of the Wave Serpent which failed the cover save. Luckily, the penetrating hit only caused Crew Shaken thanks to the Wave Serpent's Holo Fields.

Chris's turn 1
I knew a firefight with Ruben would end badly as most of my infantry have 24" range or less. So I decided to rush the enemy. The Wave Serpent and Jetbikes raced forward and Turbo-boosted to the opposite site of the board, right behind Ruben's Aegis defence line. This was a risky move with the Predator right next to it. The Falcon moved forward into a position to fire at the Predator while the remaining Dire Avengers pushed towards the objective on the left of the board. My other Jetbikes headed to the far left corner behind Ruben's Whirlwind. The Harlequins ran forward into a building ignoring difficult terrain.

My shooting was pretty good. I managed to wound with every shot from the Dark Reapers causing Ruben to make six cover saves (the Exarch ignores cover). Five Tactical Space Marines died. The Rangers shot at the same Space Marines but failed to kill any. The Dire Avengers ran towards the objective while the Harlequins ran through the building. The Falcon (being the only vehicle not to turbo-boost) fired the Pulse Laser and Scatter Laser at the side armour of the Predator. After misses and cover saves, one penetrating hit from the Pulse Laser caused it to explode, hitting both a single Jetbike and Sternguard but killing neither. I had first blood.

Ruben's turn 2
Following a quick beer interlude, the Assault Terminators and Vanguard arrived from reserve (Ruben rolled 1 for the regular Terminators). Ruben momentarily broke his Deep Strike curse by bringing the Assault Terminators down right behind my Dark Reapers. The Vanguard were less lucky and scattered into the open between Ruben's defence line and the building holding my Harlequins.

The Sternguard opened fire on a Jetbikes squad killing all of them. The Icarus Lascannon and Dreadnought's Autocannon fired at the Wave Serpent but both failed to glance. The Vanguard fired into the building with the Harlequins killing one of them. The Dire Avengers again attracted fire from the Whirlwind and Scouts with two more dying.

Ruben decided not to charge anything so it was my turn.

Chris's turn 2
My Swooping Hawks failed to arrive so the Dreadnought would stay alive another turn. The Wave Serpent moved 6" letting out the Fortuned Wraithguard and Eldrad within range of the Sternguard. I was really worried about the proximity of the Assault Terminators to my Dark Reapers so I did the only sensible option - they ran. Far. To help, the Falcon moved back 6" and let the Fire Dragons out within range of the Assault Terminators with the aim of hopefully slowing them down. The Dire Avengers settled on the objective also within range of the Assault Terminators - Ruben had my attention.

Shooting started with the Wave Serpent and Wraithguard who killed the three Sternguard in range (love the Wraithcannon). The Jetbikes shot at the rear armour of the Whirlwind doing nothing. The Rangers and Harlequins shot at the Vanguard with the sergeant falling to a precision shot.

Then the turning point of the game - I shot at Ruben's Assault Terminators with the Fire Dragons wounding with all five. Ruben needed to make five 3+ invulnerable saves. But he rolled very, very badly and four died. The Fire Dragon Exarch then finished off the last one with the Fire Pike and another bad roll from Ruben. The Dire Avengers were free to shoot at the Space Marines and killed one. The Falcon shot at the Icarus Lascannon but failed to damage it.

Assault saw my Harlequins charge into the Vanguard and with 20 attacks, wipe them out. They then consolidated back into the building.

All in all, a very bad turn for Ruben with both of his Deep Striking units being wiped out as they arrived and only killing one Harlequin in return.

Ruben's turn 3
Ruben's Terminators arrived exactly where he wanted them and his Dreadnought moved in from the left to help kill the Wraithguard and Eldrad.

I had clearly got Ruben's attention with the Wraithguard as he opened up on them with the Space Marines, Scouts, Sternguard, Terminators and Dreadnought. And due to Fortune, the end result was three dead and Eldrad with a single wound remaining (I have to learn that Eldrad isn't indestructable, even with Fortune). The Whirlwind changed targets and shot at the Fire Dragons with more success - all but the Exarch died and he decided to run away. Finally, the Icarus Lascannon shot at the Wave Serpent but again failed to glance.

Chris's turn 3
Initial disaster - I was rolling for Fortune with Eldrad and got Perils, which I then failed (and cheated by re-rolling my failed Ghosthelm save and failing again so all is good in the world of karma) so Eldrad died, for the third time in a row. Ruben again had slay the Warlord.

The Swooping Hawks arrived and scattered wildly, narrowly missing a building but passing their dangerous terrain tests. They dropped their grenades on the Space Marines which then scattered 11" right onto the Terminators but failing to do any damage. The remaining two Wraithguard moved towards the Sternguard while the Harlequin's were feeling pumped-up so headed straight out of the building towards the newly arrived Terminators. The Fire Dragon Exarch remembered that he was awesome and returned to the fight while the Dire Avengers took up positions behind cover sitting on what turned out to be a 1-point objective. The Falcon and Wave Serpent both did minimal moves to pick-up the 5+ cover save.

Shooting saw the two remaining Wraithguard wound the Chaplain once. The Falcon fired at the Dreadnought and took two hull points and destroyed the Autocannon. The Jetbikes shot at the Whirlwind and again failed to do anything (not trying that again). The Harlequins, Wave Serpent and Hawks fired at the Terminators killing two and the Dark Reapers killed two Scouts.

In assault, the Harlequins charged the Terminators and thanks to Fleet, they managed to reach their target and wipe them all out.

Ruben's turn 4
Ruben's move involved bringing the Space Marines closer to the Harlequins and separating the remaining Sternguard from the Chaplain.

Not at all happy with the Harlequin's killing two of his expensive units, Ruben fired the Sternguard and Space Marines (including flamer) at the defenceless dancers and killed them all. The Dreadnought fired the Heavy Bolter at the Wraithguard but failed to wound them and the Chaplain fired his Conversion Beamer at the Hawks but failed to kill any. The Whirlwind and Snipers killed all but one of my Dire Avengers who saw what the Fire Dragon Exarch had done and decided to run too.

Chris's turn 4

The Hawks jumped right behind the Dreadnought fully intending to Haywire it to death. The Wraithguard again closed in on the Sternguard (they were really close at this point) while the Falcon and Wave Serpent did their usual 'slight move to get a cover save and kill more stuff' move. The Jetbikes gave up on the Whirlwind and moved onto an objective near the Space Marines. The Fire Dragon Exarch slowly walked back into the fight and the Rangers dropped out of their ruins onto another objective which turned out to be worth 4 victory points. The last remaining running Dire Avenger stopped running to look at a flower then decided that he needed to get back and get that objective for 1VP, completely ignoring the much closer and higher valued other objective.

A single Hawk threw his Haywire grenade at the back of the Dreadnought and caused a penetrating hit - no explosion but the Dreadnought was wrecked. The Exarch again being humiliated by a regular Hawk opened up on the wreckage with his Hawk's Talon, doing nothing but feeling bit more heroic. The Wraithguard killed the Chaplain to death (Slay the Warlord) while the Wave Serpent opened up on the Scouts killing one. The Jetbikes fired at the Space Marines but failed to do anything while the Falcon fired both weapons through the Jetbikes and a building door into the side of the Whirlwind removing two hull points. The Dark Reapers fired at the very limit of their range killing the remaining Space Marines.

Ruben's final turn
With just three Scouts, a Whirlwind and a single Sternguard, Ruben went for the Victory. He shot at the Jetbikes with the Scouts and Sternguard and killed two, the last was ok with that and decided not to run. The Whirlwind fired at the last Dire Avenger but scattered wildly doing nothing.

Chris's final turn
The Wraithguard finished off the Sternguard, the Falcon and Wave Serpent riddled the ruins with bullets (or lasers) and managed to kill all three Scouts including Sergeant Talys (spelling Ruben?). The final blow of the game (and the last of Ruben's units alive) was the Whirlwind which died to a Fire Pike shot from the Fire Dragon Exarch.

Final score
Ruben
 - Slay the Warlord = 1 Victory Point

Chris
 - First Blood, Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker, 3 Objectives (1, 3 and 4 points) = 11 Victory Points

Conclusion

We celebrated victory and defeat and Red Oak. While I'm happy with the way I played and my decisions were generally good ones, I owe part of this victory (or maybe more than part) to Ruben's terrible luck. Conversely, I was very lucky with my rolls which also played a part.