Hey guys, my first batrep for the forum. Took me a little while to write it, the battle was a few days ago. Would appreciate any c&c as I would like to try more of this sort of stuff with future battles. Thanks for reading!!
(Oh, does it help if army lists are posted/hidden under spoiler etc?)
Dark Eldar vs Grey Knight/Space Marine/Inq 1850
It is night on the mining planet Thora 7. All is quiet, nothing but a few human mining guards station the perimeter of the mining site located in the Thoranian Viktuu sector. A strange anomaly then occurs; a thin line appears in the night sky, that can only be described as a bright green seam opening. It glows for a but a few seconds, then disappears in the blink of an eye.
The Sybarite Warlord and his fleet of Dark Eldar exit the webway and speed maniacally toward the planets surface, for spies have reported back to the Dark Eldar of a rare demonic artifact that lies dormant in two fragmented pieces, separated and buried below the planets surface. Imperial excavation teams have been searching and mining for months and have finally revealed the separated pieces. Instructions have been issued to not handle the fragments until an extraction team arrives for legend states that if both fragments were to come too close to each other they would, without warning, reattach themselves from a distance and would unlock a chain of catastrophic events of evil, carnage and hatred that no human as ever witnessed before.
T1:
The Dark Eldar, aware of the artifacts legend, plan to steal one of the pieces for they know a ransom of infinite human souls would be a small price to charge the artifacts owner. They reach the planet surface, the Sybarite Warlord and 2 Reaver Jetbike squads turbo boost to the far East of the mining site. An outpost needs to be cleared. The rest of the army surround one of the artifacts zoned area, readying themselves for an aggressive attack to the far West - the position of the 2nd fragment. The Dark Eldar's keen night time vision enables them to scan and sight an Imperial Bunker - the enemy is here. Surrounding the other artifacts mining zone is the Imperial Fortress with a unit of Space Marine Devastators, Space Marine Scouts and the Inquisition's Coteaz. A Rhino is also seen moving as fast as it's turbo charged engines will push it. One of the Raider pilots notice the small purity seal on it's hull - the mythical Grey Knights have arrived. As the Dark Eldar position themselves to cause maximum destruction to the Imperial Bunker a crack from the skies above is heard. Plummeting to the planet's surface is a space marine drop pod. The attack begins! Centurions with Librarian exit the pod instantaneous, killing a unit of Scourge who could not flee quick enough. To the East, a small contingent of Scouts attack the Reavers killing one Jetbike. The 2 remaining Jetbikes successfully disengage from the ambush, only to ready themselves for a true delivery of pain.
T2:
As day breaks, the Reavers charge the Scouts, killing them before they had a chance to react. A third unit of Reavers and second Venom join the Warlords eastern position. The Centurions, turn their Bolt and Grav weaponry toward the next target but find themselves immediately under attack; two Ravagers fire their Dark Lances into them, killing one of the warsuits. A unit of Grotesques with Haemonculus, disembark from their Raider and charge, insta-killing the Libby with poisoned attacks. The Grots win but the Centurions stay locked. The 3 other Grotesque Raiders move flat out toward the centre of the battlefield.
A Space Marine beacon is sent from the drop pod to the Thunderhawk gunship that orbits the planet and in the blink of an eye, a unit of Terminators arrive from the skies, landing deep in the backfield to take control of and add pressure to the DE controlled artifact. The Legacy of Kaylek Vindicator roars in from the distance and fires into the group of 3 Raiders, destroying one, forcing the occupants to the planet surface. Grey Knight Purifiers disembark from their Rhino and immediately send an incendiary nova blast toward the Grotesques killing one of the unit. Missiles and the Quad Gun open fire on the same Grotesque unit, killing another. The Storm Raven hovers into attack range, dropping off the Librarian and Strike Squad at the foot of the Warlord Sybarite and proceeds to destroy their Venom. Cleansing Flame from the Librarian incinerates three Squads of Reavers, leaving just one jetbike. The second Venom proves to be invulnerable to the flames attack, at least this time. The Sybarite and Warriors from the destroyed Venom also die to the psychic nova blast, earning Warlord kill, however the warp proves too strong for the Librarian who suffers a devastating Perils attack and is instantly sucked back into the warp, dragging 2 Grey Knights with him, earning Warlord kill for the Dark Eldar.
T3:
The two Ravager pilots detect the Grey Knight flyer is within their range and swiftly turn their murder-crafts toward the ship, as dark light pressures the might of the cerimite plating, it proves too strong for the chassis and is brought down from it's dominating position in the skies. The Grots continue to pile on the poisonous attacks onto the Centurions, slowly reducing their resolve. Two models remain but both are at half strength. The single Grotesque from the blown Raider charges toward the Vinidicator, only to be splattered into a gooey by product of filth as the shell of the mighty tank finds it's target. The two remaining Grotesque units, lead by their Master Haemonculus, Urien Rakarth both leap from their attack platforms and rampage into and absolutely murder the Purifier squad. The Rhino speeds ahead, forcing Grotesques to leap to the sides, securing a vital obj for the marine allies. The missiles and quad gun then have clear shots at both Grotesque units and choose to open fire on the closest, removing another from the unit, leaving just one. The Terminators then kill the Lhamaean on the Dark Eldar controlled artifact and press toward the skimmer fleet.
T4:
The virulent poison of the Grotesques proves too strong for the Centurions. The Grots then turn their attention to the advancing Space Marine Terminators. The 2 remaining Raiders swivel instantly on the spot and begin their attack toward the Terminators, removing 2 with their Disintegrator fire. The Ravager pilots, keen to the fact that the Lhamean has been executed, open fire upon the Terminators destroying the final members of the squad and hauling their bodies onboard to later harvest the souls of the great warriors.
The quad gun, manned by the space marine scouts, and the devasatator unit inside the battle bunker, overwhelm two Dark Eldar Raiders with ranged firepower and immobilise both of the Grav tanks in position. The Vindicator driver and crew receive the communication of the recently stalled Eldar craft and ready another shell. A direct hit! The power and explosiveness of the shell was so destructive that it completely blew the two skimmers into smithereens. The lone Grotesque moves in between a ruined building and the heavy weapon fire coming from the Space Marine Bunker. Coteaz, spots the lone Grotesque through narrow cracks in the walls and orders the Dev team to fire upon it. The ruined building crumbles around the lone Grotesque and a missile finds it target, exploding the gruesome creation into as many parts as were initially used to create him. Urien sniggers at the death of his apprentices creation but quickly commands his own contingent to ravage the Grey Knight Rhino that is but a few feet away.
T5:
With the Dark Eldar securing half of the demonic artifact, the two Ravagers decide to maximize their movement capability and take up a northern position, targeting the Vindicator but failed to do any damaged due to it's obscured view. The Venom and lone Reaver jetbike turbo boost right across the mine site, closing the gap between them from the East and the battle bunker to the far West. The Venoms pilot evades one, two, three shots but it's the 4th and final Krakk missile that hits its mark, grounding the speeding skimmer in a fiery wreck.
Urien and his contingent of Grotesques, take up this advantageous moment to charge the Vindicator, bashing it's rear armour, ripping off an engine panel and destroying the engine by tearing at the fuel pumps and ignition starters, ensuring the tank's fate.
T6:
"How long until the fragment is dislodged" radios Coteaz to the human excavation team beneath the planet's surface. "We have released it from rock, sir, and are making our way back immediately." Coteaz psychically contacts the orbiting Thunderhawk, informing them of the find but also of their current battle status.
The Ravagers strafe further north up the mine site and lock on all Dark Lances onto the bunker to the west. Ravager gunners pound the bunker walls with dark light until the walls begin to buckle on one side. Urien looks to the sky and spots the space marine gunship above making a decent to rendezvous with the Inquisitorial master and his teams. Missiles are fired one last time at the Dark Eldar Ravagers but they are in vein for the Space Marines allies are about to exit the planet and with that - they had vanished.
Subject: 1++ Battle Report - Race of the two halves 
Sun May 22 2016, 09:06
