Apologies in advance for the blurry pictures - phone was being a bit mental yesterday. Anyway, this is my first proper game at 1750 points (where I've built from the ground up as opposed to taking a 1500 point list and adding 250 points of stuff), and also my first proper game against Daemons since they got their new book! Lots of firsts! Anyway - the armies:
Dark Eldar:
Archon, Huskblade, Venom Blade, Shadowfield, PGL
Baron Sathonyx
4 Incubi, Klaivex, Dual-cannon Venom
3 Trueborn, 3 Blasters, Dual-cannon Venom
5 warriors (no upgrades), Dual-cannon Venom
10 warriors, splinter cannon, raider with splinter racks (lance)
10 wyches, hekatrix, venom blade, shardnet/impaler, raider with grisly trophies (lance)
10 hellions (no upgrades)
5 scourges, 2 haywire blasters
Razorwing, Flickerfield
Razorwing, Flickerfield
Ravager (tri-lance)
Daemons - apologies, but he had so many rewards/powers that I don't think I can remember them all, but I'll try my best!
Lord of Change - Prescience, Precognition, something else (shooting attack), Feel No Pain
Flying Daemon Prince of Tzeentch (axe model) - ML3, Endurance (I think), Haemhorrage, can't remember third power, this dude was carrying both the Grimoire and the Portalglyph
Flying Daemon Prince of Tzeentch (sword model) - ML3, Smite, Iron Arm, Warp Speed, rage and rampage
Herald of Tzeentch, Prescience, shooting attack
Herald of Khorne, base reward, some kind of shooting attack
6 Screamers
10 Bloodletters, Icon of D6+6" charge
18(?) Horrors, Icon of Tzeentchy things (I'm having to guess the number based on pics, 18 or 20).
Game was Relic, deployment was Vanguard Strike. Lord of Change's warlord trait was re-roll daemonic instability tests within 12", Archon was Princeps of Deceit. Combat drugs were Grave Lotus (+1 Strength). After 4 consecutive ties, the daemons won the roll to pick table edge, and also won the roll to take first turn (despite Baron), unsurprising given the need for psychic powers. No night fighting on turn 1.
Deployment:
The daemons deployed everything on-table, along his line. Horrors at the far side, then in the ruins is the portalglyph/grimoire DP, then the bloodletters (screamers behind), then LoC, and finally the power-prince.
My deployment, as it's otherwise impossible to see. Batplanes and scourges are in reserve, as I suspect he'll try to deploy the portalglyph where it's difficult to see and I want to at least try and deep-strike on it. I've set up back in a castle where I'm out of max range of almost all of his shooting (ESPECIALLY the horrors); he can reach the hellions with his FMCs few shooting attacks but with a 3+ cover save (ruin and baron) I'm not hugely fussed. Next to them is the warrior venom, followed by blasterborn venom, then ravager, warrior raider, wych raider, and archon venom at the back. I roll to seize but fail (not even sure if I wanted it, tbh).
Turn 1 - Daemons:
Everything moves up, except for the screamers, which retreat slightly. Everything also casts as many powers as it can - Iron Arm gives the DP +3, he gets prescienced, Lord of Change precognitions himself, something else gets the other prescience. Horrors get grimoired successfully for a 3++ re-rolling ones (guess what I won't be shooting at). All 3 FMCs fly 24" over the building in the middle. The DP with the portalglyph tries to drop it in the central ruins but it scatters 12" directly towards my lines, and nothing pops out this turn. The Warp Storm table does the thing that affects Tzeentch units and all of mine; wounds a screamer and glances a venom. His shooting phase is comparatively inefficient, as I deny the witch on his Haemorrhage, and lose 2 hellions to other shooting.
Turn 1 - Dark Eldar:
The Hellions stay put. Everything else moves 12" to get into better firing positions, with 2 exceptions: the blasterborn venom moves 6" (so the blasterborn can do nasty things to the portalglyph), and the warrior raider also moves 6", in case I can knock a FMC down. Shooting phase, and the first order of business is for the blasterborn to shoot at the portalglyph, which they do, destroying it. Excellent. First venom snap-fires at the closest daemon prince, scoring 3 hits, and sticking a wound, but it doesn't fall down. A second venom repeats the trick, another few hits, can't remember if I get a wound to stick but this time it DOES fall out of the sky (either took a wound from the venom or from faceplanting). The warriors open fire into it with everything (having moved 6" for precisely this opportunity), and despite a whopping 20 hits out of 24 shots they only manage 4 wounds... After they and the hellions fire it's still there on one wound remaining. In desperation, I snap-fire the wyches into it with their splinter pistols, managing 2 or 3 hits out of 10, and they finish it off for
First Blood 
. The Ravager snap-fires ineffectually at the Lord of Change, and my other lances manage to pick off a screamer.
End of turn 1. Crucially, by focussing my firepower, I've managed to get rid of one of the daemon princes. Even better, it was the one carrying the grimoire, and no portalglyph means I need to worry less about him grabbing the relic.
Turn 2 - Daemons:
He grimoire's the horrors again and this time fails, knocking their invulnerable save to a puny 6+ (but we realise before it becomes an issue that the grimoire's already gone). All the psychic powers get cast again, the DP getting +2 from Iron Arm this time. They both fly into the centre of my army to dish out damage. The horrors advance, and the 'letters and screamers move towards the relic in the centre. Warpstorm table does the same thing, but I can't remember how much of an effect it has. Shooting combined with vector strikes sees both my raiders destroyed but neither unit are pinned; the warrior raider got stunned first meaning that the warriors cannot shoot next turn. Some warriors also die. Those horrors put out an INSANE number of shots.
Turn 2 - Dark Eldar:
With both my raiders gone I only have two scoring units that have a decent chance of making it to the relic - my hellions and the 5 warriors in a venom, as everything else has to footslog across a killing ground. Fortunately, all of my reserves show up, the scourges scattering into the far ruins, but pass all their dangerous terrain. I bring a plane in from each corner. The warrior venom moves behind the same ruins to draw a bead on the horrors, and both my other venoms move up accordingly. The hellions vacate the ruins, and the warriors that can't shoot take up residence. This time, I focus a lot of snap-shooting on the Lord of Change and do a few wounds, and knock him out of the sky! Both razorwings dump templates on the horrors, and are helped by the scourges and the warrior-venom in taking most of them out. In a fit of bravery, I declare two charges against his Lord of Change who's on 2 wounds - the hellions (needing 12"), and the wyches (right next to him). Hellions get 11" (so close!) but the wyches go in, hoping to hold him up. He challenges and I decline (as I won't get the shardnet benefit), this may have been a mistake. He swings and does 3 wounds, I fail all my invulnerable saves. I do a wound in return, I believe it gets saved, and I fail my morale test and get cut down, letting the LoC face a different way. Uh-oh.
End of turn 2
Turn 3 - Daemons
Powers get cast again, as ever. Bloodletters move round the building towards the ravager and hellions, whilst the horrors advance. DP drops down and comes after the hellions, whilst the Lord of Change vector strikes and destroys the Archon's venom. The horrors then open up and obliterate the incubi, but the archon survives. The screamers turbo-boost over him, but he makes all his shadowfield saves. Many hellions get shot, leaving 4 and the baron. Assault phase, he charges the Daemon Prince (rage, rampage, T7 from Iron Arm, prescience) into the hellions, and considers throwing in the bloodletters, but instead sends them after the Ravager. The Herald of Khorne wrecks the ravager, and fortunately for the daemons it doesn't explode. Baron challenges the Daemon Prince, who inflicts 7 wounds. Baron makes out like a bandit and tanks them all with his shadowfield! The hellions then hit-and-run out and towards the relic, leaving a very confused daemon prince.
Turn 3 - Dark Eldar
One razorwing moves up towards the horrors, as do the scourges. The other swings sideways and goes for the bloodletters. Warrior-venom moves 12" across, and the blaster venom wanders towards the daemon prince. Hellions pick up the relic. The archon disentangles himself from the venom and hikes into the ruins. He throws a plasma grenade at the screamers, killing a few. Blasters stick two wounds on the DP. The left razorwing is a bit useless, but the scourges finish off the horrors and the herald for 2 pain tokens. The right hand razorwing fares a bit better, killing 4 bloodletters. Archon charges the screamers to try and stay safe, but is over-efficient and kills them all, leaving himself stuck in the open.
End of Turn 3
Turn 4 - Daemons
Daemon prince spins round and flies off, vector striking and killing my archon for
Slay the Warlord. Lord of change flies back and flamers my hellions, killing the two on the top floor. Another shooting attack kills one, leaving Baron and the one dude holding the relic. The Daemon prince fires smite and kills some warriors, including the splinter cannon, but they hold.
Turn 4 - Dark Eldar
The warrior venom moves yet closer to the action, as the hellion and baron move straight away towards the daemon table edge. This is a mistake, should have gone nearer to my venom so the warriors had a decent shot to get it. Scourges move round to take a pot shot at Space Pigeon, and the warriors move across to rapid-fire bloodletters. One razorwing banks round to get at the daemon prince, the other flies off the table. Shooting from the razorwing is rubbish, doesn't wound the daemon prince.The Lord of Change, on it's last wound at this point, takes 3; but between Precognition and his FNP reward, he survives! I knock both FMCs down, which hurts me, as it allows him to change direction before he starts flying again. The venoms and warriors are all-stars, taking down the bloodletters and wounding the herald.
End of turn 4 - I have the relic, but for how long?
Turn 5 - Daemons
Night falls. The Daemon Prince flies back and vector strikes/shoots warriors, killing 3 (they hold). The Lord of Change vector strikes and kills the hellion holding the relic, but Baron passes morale. The herald of khorne throws his axe and does something to the warrior venom, but then makes a ridiculously long charge to hit it and kills it in combat, with 3 guys surviving the explosion.
Turn 5 - Dark Eldar
I can't reach the Relic now - I'll need more turns. Razorwing flies back on, and the one that's already on the table peels back to my table edge to shoot at the daemon prince. Scourges and baron both move, I run baron into the daemon deployment zone for
Linebreaker if the game ends. I shoot the razorwing and snap fire the venom into the daemon prince and wound him, but can't finish him off, netting him
Linebreaker if the game ends now. The blasterborn easily finish the herald of khorne. Scourges snap-fire at the Lord of Change to no effect, leaving the game potentially in the hands of the Razorwing - I hit, I wound twice... and he fails his last save, finally, giving Dark Eldar
Slay The Warlord. We roll, and the dice is a two, bringing the game to an end.
Final position. Daemons are one wound on that daemon prince away from being tabled!
Final Score:
Chaos Daemons - 2 VPs (Slay The Warlord, Linebreaker)
Dark Eldar - 3 VPs (Slay the Warlord, Linebreaker, First Blood)Dark Eldar Victory!
3 hours well spent. Really, really good game, and by far the closest game I've played with my Dark Eldar; too often its a one-way thumping one way or the other. Came down to the last turn too, which is nice - if I'd not been able to drop the Lord of Change, it would have been a 2-2 draw. Also, for future reference: Precognition Lord of Change that got Feel No Pain as a daemonic reward? REALLY hard to kill! My first turn was huge, as killing that daemon prince early on really helped - focussing everything into one until it was dead was absolutely the right thing to do, IMO, and the daemon player thought the same. Apparently too many people try and spread their shots out to weaken them, but I'd rather face two at full strength than 3 with some wounds missing. Getting shot of that portalglyph was also handy, as it meant I was only ever going to have the two troops to deal with. I think the big mistake was from the daemons on turn 3 - the ravager was never going to do much (though it might have messed up the daemon prince), so I think he'd have been better off chucking the bloodletters into the hellions, as they would have killed them, as well as probably getting them out of the way of the razorwing; at least into cover and near the relic.
MVP awards... for the Daemons, I'd have to give it to the surviving Daemon Prince, that thing did so much damage it was unreal, I shudder to think what would have happened had I left the second one alive. For the Dark Eldar, got to be Baron Sathonyx... keeping hellions alive, pulling that shadowfield/H&R stunt, and then taking linebreaker right at the end.
Anyway, thanks for reading, any C&C welcome! Hope you enjoyed
Subject: 1750 - Dark Eldar vs Chaos Daemons 
Thu Sep 19 2013, 12:48
