After a week off due to family things, I'm back on the batrep bandwagon with a 1750 game against vanilla Space Marines! I used the same 1750 list from my last game (too lazy to change it):
Archon, Huskblade, Shadowfield, Combat Drugs, PGL (Warlord, Conqueror of Cities)
Haemy, Venom Blade, Liquefier Gun
3 Grotesques, Aberration, Raider with Dark Lance
3 Trueborn, 3 Blasters, Venom with additional Splinter Cannon
10 Wracks, Liquefier Gun, Acothyst with Hexrifle, Raider with Dark Lance
10 Warriors, Splinter Cannon, Raider with Dark Lance, Splinter Racks
5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades, Venom with additional Splinter Cannon
5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades, Venom with additional Splinter Cannon
3 Reaver Jetbikes, Heat Lance
5 Scourges, 2 Haywire Blasters
Talos, Twin-Linked Splinter Cannon, Twin-Linked Liquefier Gun
Ravager, 3 Dark Lances
Razorwing Jetfighter, Flickerfield
Combat Drugs were re-roll failed wounds
The Marine list was White Scars Primary, with Ultramarine allies:
Captain, Jump Pack, Teeth of Terra (Warlord, Furious Charge in my DZ)
10 Tactical Marines, Plasma Gun, Multi-Melta, Power Fist, Rhino
10 Tactical Marines, Plasma Gun, Missile Launcher
10 Assault Marines, Sergeant with dual lightning claws
10 Assault Marines, Sergeant with power fist
Predator, twin-linked Lascannon, Heavy Bolters
Predator, Auto-Cannon, Heavy Bolters
Allies:
Tigurius (Hallucination, Psychic Shriek, and something I can't remember)
5 Scouts, Sniper Rifles, Telion
5 Tactical Marines, Meltagun, Razorback with twin-linked Lascannon
Thunderfire Cannon
The mission we played was one dreamed up by my local club for a campaign that's just started - 4 Loot Tokens in a rectangular pattern in the middle of the table, movable as in The Relic mission from the rulebook, and worth 2 points each rather than 3; secondary objectives as normal. We agreed that each squad would only be able to pick up one objective at a time to prevent shenanigans. My opponent won the roll for table sides and for first turn and elected to go first, and the dice gods decreed that night fighting would be in effect on turn 1.
Deployment - excuse blurriness. On his side from left to right are the autocannon predator, then Telion and the scouts on top of a hut, thunderfire hiding behind it. Then 10 tactical marines with ML, assault squad with captain in behind them. 10 tac marines with multi-melta are in the white rhino, Ultra razor is empty, tac squad with Tigger is beside it. Another 10 ASM behind them, and the lascannon predator on my right flank. For myself, I have the scourges in area terrain, screening the wrack raider. 1 haywych venom is also behind them, and the blasterborn venom is deployed right on the edge of my deployment zone, sideways so I can reach the predator after a pivot and a 6" move.
And the left side of my DZ - archon's raider, screened by wych venom #2; then the ravager, then the warrior raider. Talos is out front to screen other things. Razorwing and jetbikes are in reserve. I roll to seize, and fail.
My overall game plan is to go after those predators first, as they pose the biggest threat to my vehicles. Second target will be the enemy tactical marines, and tertiary the thunderfire cannon. It's a threat, but also awkward to get to, and if I can stay inside my vehicles it will be less dangerous.
Turn 1 - SM:
Not much movement from the marines. Left flank (from my perspective) remains almost stationary, with the assault marines moving slightly. Rhino moves forwards 12", razorback 6", and the tactical squad 4" through cover. Right hand predator moves forwards 6", and the assault marines move round slightly to flank me. Essentially, active movement in the centre, and preparing for reactive movement on the flanks. The thunderfire starts shooting, and manages to inflict a single glancing hit on the left hand wych venom. The right hand predator opens up into the wracks' raider, snap-firing the heavy bolters, but can't get through the 3+ cover save I've given it (5+ for scourges, +2 for shrouded). The twin-linked lascannon on the razorback misses, and the missile launcher hits something but gets denied thanks to shrouded. The stationary predator opens up into the wych venom, penetrates it, but doesn't explode it, leaving it wrecked for
First Blood. Wyches are not pinned. Scouts fire at the talos, and take off a wound.
Turn 1 - DE:
Wyches move through cover and take up station on the gantry after their run roll - a 3+ cover save thanks to my warlord trait (2+ if I go to ground) should keep them safe until a late-game objective grab if necessary. Scourges fly out of terrain, one faceplanting in the process. Blasterborn venom moves up 6" to my right, wrack raider moves 12", wych raider also moves 12". Over on the left the ravager flies up onto the terrain, not immobilising itself, and the grotesque raider and warrior raider each move 12" forward. Talos rumbles out 5". Shooting starts with the trueborn into the right hand predator, which has a 4+ cover save - I manage to get a single penetrating hit through, which immobilises it. The scourges sink their two haywire blasters into it and I get a pair of glances, which wrecks it. On the other side of the table, my Ravager decides that this will be the one game in 20 where it actually accomplishes something, and destroys the other predator in a single volley. The talos shoots down a scout in retaliation, and the warriors snap-fire ineffectively at the tactical squad. Dark lance from the raider vaporises one. The archon's raider can just see the techmarine and I contemplate blasting him, but it seems tight and the odds aren't great of me killing him (2/3 to hit, 2/3 to wound thanks to majority toughness 7, and then a 5+ area terrain save), so I move it flat out instead. Splinter fire kills one ultramarines tactical marine.
End of turn 1. I've already secured my main goal of stopping the predators, now I intend to focus on the tactical marines.
Turn 2 - SM:
Tigurius splits off and wanders on his own, looking for something productive to do. The captain also goes off on his own, oddly, and hides, as his assault squad chase the archon's raider. Right hand assault squad leaps out, and the rhino moves 6" and disgorges the squad into the central terrain piece. Razor advances and the tac squad uses it as cover. Shooting from the tactical squad explodes the wracks' raider, and the explosion combined with thunderfire shooting manages to kill 4 wracks. They don't flee, but are pinned. The warriors suffer a similar fate, losing 5 of their number when the raider goes down in a fireball - also pinned, but don't flee. The assault squad on the left charges in (losing one to an overwatching liquefier) and wrecks the archon's raider - fortunately, they are NOT pinned. The assault squad on the right makes a 10" charge into the scourges - I kill one, and 3 of my scourges are cut down in return; fortunately I pass my morale test.
Turn 2 - DE:
Razorwing turns up, but the jetbikes do not. Ravager makes a token move to get a save, doesn't immobilise itself. The wyches disembark, and prepare to assault the assault marines. Talos continues his quest forwards, and cuts down some more scouts, leaving just one and Telion. The trueborn move out 6" in their venom. Warriors and wracks are pinned. Haemonculus is the only thing that moves on the left, hitting 6 assault marines with a decent AP liquefier, but getting no wounds. The Razorwing dumps some templates on the tactical squad, and that combined with venom fire manages to get a few dead marines. I also shoot down a further ultramarine. The wyches charge into the combat to aid the beleaguered Scourge, but despite a ton of hits and re-rolls to wound with my combat drugs, I only inflict two, which are easily saved. The scourge does another wound, and gets a kill, before being splattered by a power fist, as one wych dies - they fail their morale check, and flee. I charge on the other side and the archon does a decent amount of damage with his huskblade, grotesques doing some damage too. The surviving assault marines hit and run out.
Apologies for horrendous picture... after a really good turn 2 for the marines, I'm not optimistic; especially with that rampant assault squad in my lines.
Turn 3 - SM:
Tigger continues his valiant yet fruitless quest for the meaning of life and wanders up to (but not into) terrain. The captain joins up with the assault marines and prepares for a counter-attack against the grotesques. Tactical marines all advance slightly. Here's where I catch a major break - there's a desperately poor shooting phase for the marines. The thunderfire cannon misses by a mile, my Talos survives whatever was thrown at it on one wound; Archon and grotesques just shrug it off, and the wracks take absolutely no damage between their cover and feel no pain. The wyches get shot to shreds, and the last one gets killed in assault. The assault marines on the far side charge in and their captain issues a challenge, which my archon accepts - I score 4 hits, but no wounds, which become 3 wounds after my re-roll for combat drugs; the captain fails one of his invulnerable saves and is roundly decapitated for
Slay the Warlord. The grotesques and haemonculus whale on the remaining marines, until only two remain. They fall back, but are caught in a sweeping advance and continue to fight.
Midway through turn 3 - the state of play...
And a close-up of what's going on in the far corner. I'm about to see if a talos, archon, and grotesques can take on 2 assault marines, 9 tactical marines, Tigurius, a scout, Telion, and the thunderfire cannon that's still lurking in there.
Turn 3 - DE:
Reavers turn up - I move them on in the centre; the plan is to position them to snipe out relic-carries with their bladevanes. The venoms both move out to dump some firepower on the tactical marines in the middle. The wracks roll snake eyes for their difficult terrain test, and I just leave them with the exception of a token move to pick up an objective (since I'm there anyway). Warriors also roll poorly, so I string them out through terrain. Ravager again attempts a token move, but immobilises itself. Talos advances, and razorwing moves to deal with the blob of 9. Shooting is hideously effective against them from the Talos and warriors, killing 5; the Razorwing picks off Tigurius with a dark lance. Reavers turbo boost to the back, but do nothing exciting. Shooting kills a few marines from the central squad, and the venoms pick off the last 3 ultramarines. The 4 remaining marines in the left corner fall back, and I choose not to assault with the Talos, as 12" through cover is unlikely. Archon finishes off the assault marines, taking my pain token total for the unit up to 4.
End of turn 3 - thanks to poor dice rolls from the marines, I think I'm ahead at this point; but due to First Blood and the ease with which the marines can get linebreaker, I'll still need to secure an objective in order to claim the win.
Turn 4 - SM:
The assault marines go after the venoms. Shooting from the tactical squad and the thunderfire cannon annihilates my wracks; the rallied tactical marines can't get lasting damage on whatever they shoot (I forget if it was grotesques or talos). I -think- my Ravager gets destroyed by the razorback, but can't remember. The rhino is definitely dead by this point. The assault marines charge both venoms, crushing the trueborn one but not the other - they hit and run off of the survivor.
Turn 4 - DE:
Warriors attempt to move out of their crater, but don't get hugely far. Razorwing goes off-table, as it's useless in its current position. Talos advances on the last few tactical marines. Wyches advance towards the nearest objective, and the surviving venom moves back. The talos obliterates the tactical squad, and the reavers bladevane back to no effect. I run the wyches, and thanks to a good run roll (hurrah for fleet) they'll be able to pick up an objective on turn 5. The warriors and venom smash the remaining few tactical marines, and the archon charges Telion and the last scout, easily hacking them apart, and removing the last scoring models from the marine side of the board.
End of turn 4. All I need to do to win is to get either the warriors or the wyches onto one of those objectives.
Turn 5 - SM:
Not much of note - the assault marines move and kill my last venom out of spite, and gain
Linebreaker whilst doing so. Thunderfire cannon does nothing.
Turn 5 - DE:
Archon and the grotesques charge the thunderfire cannon and hack it and the techmarine apart, as the wyches move onto a relic (that last-turn grab I mentioned all the way back on turn 1!). Since there's no way of stopping both the wyches AND the warriors in time (they'll be on an objective next turn), the marines throw in the towel.
Final result:
Space Marines have
First Blood and
Linebreaker for a grand total of 2 VPs
Dark Eldar Have
Slay the Warlord,
Linebreaker and one
Loot Token for a grand total of 4 VPs, meaning it's a
Dark Eldar Victory!
I think the plan went well - being able to remove both predators early on was crucial as, even though they weren't important to my opponent's game plan, they were certainly dangerous when it came to spoiling mine. I was feeling the pinch on turn 2 when a couple of key units were whittled down AND pinned - at full effect I reckon the wracks would have made a serious dent in those tactical marines, especially with a liquefier gun softening them up. But a spate of bad dice meant my opponent couldn't capitalise on this in his next turn, and my counter-assault went off perfectly when all the power armour on the tabletop decided it wanted to stop working. I'm mostly lucky that the thunderfire didn't work as well as it could have - the hazard of putting it out of sight means that they're at the mercy of the scatter dice, which hit fine on turn 1 but missed by far enough on turns 2 and 3 that it was practically useless. This is the first game where I've been really impressed by the Archon/Haemy/Grot unit - T5 to sponge wounds, 2 Pain Tokens for Furious Charge, and a real wrecking ball if it gets going. I was also tempted to deploy differently, mostly outside of transports for once, but I figured inside was safest from the Thunderfire Cannon. As always, C&C welcome, and thanks for reading!
Subject: 1750 - Dark Eldar vs Space Marines 
Fri Feb 14 2014, 13:49
I didn't realise he'll had frozen over! Seemed like a good close game though 
