First game of 7th edition! We decided to give the new Maelstrom of War missions a shot, and agreed to play the first one out of the book for the sake of sanity, as it's the least complex. Vanguard Strike deployment, each player generates 3 Tactical Objectives at the start of each turn, and generates further until s/he has 3 at the beginning of every subsequent turn.
I ran:
Duke Sliscus (warlord), 9 warriors with rifles, raider with splinter racks (the Party Boat)
Haemy, Liquifier Gun, Venom Blade
9 Wracks, Raider
10 Warriors, Sybarite, Splinter Cannon, Raider with splinter racks
5 Wyches, haywire grenades, dual-cannon venom
5 Wyches, haywire grenades, dual-cannon venom
3 Trueborn, 3 blasters, dual cannon venom
Ravager
Ravager
Razorwing with Flickerfield
Space Wolves had:
8 Grey Runters in a rhino
8 Grey Hunters in a rhino
8 Grey Hunters in a rhino
8 Grey Hunters in a Drop Pod
5 Grey Hunters in a Drop Pod, joined by Wolf Priest (warlord), terminator Rune Priest, and terminator Wolf Guard with heavy flamer
6 Bikes (one was a wolf guard)
6 Longfangs
My opponent rolled on the Strategic Warlord Traits table and got -1 to my reserve rolls. I decided to try out the new Tactical traits and rolled a 2, which is rubbish, so used Ideal Mission Commander to re-roll and rolled a 1, allowing me to discard 2 objectives at the end of my turn instead of 1.
Combat Drugs - thanks to Sliscus I rolled +1 WS and +1 S as my options, and chose the latter
Psychic Powers - none for me. Rune Priest went for Biomancy and got Enfeeble and Haemorrhage, gaining Smite thanks to Psychic Focus, and generated Force automatically.
The Wolves won the roll for table sides, but I won the right to go first, and took it. Night Fighting is in effect on turn 1.
Deployment. The 6 objective markers went down beforehand - that's Objective 2 in the ruin in my deployment zone, Objective 6 in my opponent's ruin, and Objective 3 in the distance. I have the Razorwing, Blasterborn Venom, and the Party Boat in reserve (the latter two are deep-striking). 3 Reavers are out of sight under the ruin, Haemy has joined them. The wrack raider and the second ravager are off to the side. The wolves have the visible rhino (full), a second one directly behind it (also full), and his Longfang pack underneath and behind Objective 6. Everything else is reserved.
New rule I didn't notice - after deployment, the player who deployed first can choose whether to go first or second. Since neither of us had spotted this, it seemed like a dick move to put the Wolves straight in to bat as they can't do anything, so I elected to take turn 1.
Turn 1 - Dark Eldar
Generating objectives, I rolled Behind Enemy Lines (points for getting units within 12" of opponent's table edge), Kingslayer (d3 VPs if opponent's warlord is dead), and Demolitions (points for killing a gun emplacement or building). Haemy leaves the jetbikes (they keep the pain token) and mounts up with the wracks. Both Wych venoms and one ravager advance - the rightmost venom can see 2 longfangs, and the left-hand venom can see the entire pack through a doorway on the red-bricked piece of terrain. Both raiders, the second ravager, and the jetbikes all move 12" straight forwards. In the shooting phase, all 4 of them turbo-boost to get within 12" of my opponent's table edge. The Ravager knocks a hull point off of the front rhino. I fire the right venom first, and kill two longfangs. The left hand venom scores a colossal 8 wounds, and my opponent fails four saves, giving the Dark Eldar
First Blood. At the end of my turn, I secure Behind Enemy lines for D3 points as I have 3 or more units in position, and gain 2. I choose to discard the unachievable Demolitions, and contemplate discarding Kingslayer, but choose to keep it (mistake).
Turn 1 - Space Wolves
The pod without his characters comes in near Objective 5, threatening my venom. He generates Hungry for Glory (VP for issuing challenges), Demolitions, and Secure Objective 4. Both Rhinos move out towards objective 4, the one closest to the Dark Eldar popping smoke. The grey hunters that disembarked from the drop pod are able to wreck the venom despite me choosing to Jink, but the wyches inside are unharmed. At the end of his turn, the Space Wolves have Secured Objective 4 for a point, and choose to discard Demolitions.
End of turn 1. Tactical Objective tracker: Dark Eldar 2, Space Wolves 1.
Turn 2 - Dark Eldar:
The Razorwing flies on at an oblique angle, the Party Boat and the Trueborn are having too good a time in orbit. I retain Kingslayer from my previous turn, and generate Recon (VP if all mysterious objectives have been identified) and Overwhelming Firepower (VP if I destroy a unit with shooting, d3 if I destroy 3 or more). Objective 6 is the only objective yet to be identified, so the warrior raider blasts off over there (none of them had any effect on the game, so I won't list them). The Razorwing eyes up the newly arrived Wolves. Ravagers, jetbikes and wrack raider doss around. Shooting, and the Razorwing unloads 3 missiles into the grey hunters (2 missile limit is removed now) and kills all but one; I do clip the pod but don't glance it. Both units of wyches throw a grenade at the pod, I roll 6s to hit both times, but only glance it twice. So close! One of the Ravagers destroys the previously untouched rhino, and the explosion and shooting from the warrior raider (loads of 6s) kills 5. At the end of my shooting phase I gain 1 VP from Overwhelming Firepower as I didn't quite get 3 units, and 1 VP at the end of the turn from Recon (at some point the drop pod gets finished off out of spite, but I can't remember if it's my assault phase or later). I keep Kingslayer.
Turn 2 - Space Wolves:
The other pod arrives on my right flank, between the jetbikes and raider. Bikes come in from reserve, and threaten my warrior raider. The Wolves still have Hungry for Glory, and generate No Prisoners (1 VP for killing a unit, D3 VP for killing 3-5 units, D3+3 for killing 6 or more), and Assassinate (VP for a character kill). The lone Grey hunter moves into cover near the statue, and the rhino and footsloggers move towards my raider at Objective 6. Psychic phase, and the rune priest gets Smite off against my jetbikes - I jink and pass all my saves. He also gets Haemorrhage, and my first jetbike fails a toughness test, but passes Feel No Pain. Shooting, and everything on the left hand side targets my Raider, which Jinks. The end result is no damage done to the raider at all, and 3 warriors die to flamers. Fortunately, the splinter cannon survives unharmed (had to pinch a D10 from a neighbouring table as the wounds are randomly allocated). The wrack raider goes down to Grey Hunter shooting; he calls Melta first, which only glances (double 1 to penetrate sucks), and then scores two more glances with his boltguns, wrecking it. This has the unfortunate effect for him of meaning his heavy flamer doesn't get to fire, as you have to fully resolve one 'set' of weapons before moving on, and the target is now dead. At the end of his turn, he scores 1 VP from the No Prisoners objective, as he only managed to kill 2 units.
End of turn 2. Objective tracker: Dark Eldar 4, Space Wolves 2
Turn 3 - Dark Eldar
The Party Boat arrives, the trueborn do not. I still have Kingslayer, and generate Secure Objective 1, and Secure Objective 4. Duke Sliscus' Party Boat deep-strikes near objective 4, but not near enough to claim. I move the jinking warrior raider in range to claim, provided I can kill one Grey Hunter that's in contesting range first. Razorwing turns 90 degrees and goes to pester some bikes. The surviving venom goes to claim objective 1, and the ravager moves back. Wracks and haemy advance on the grey hunters, as the Reavers flee to the far side of the board. The warriors aboard the Party Boat manage to gun down all of the grey hunters near Objective 4 for a pain token, and allowing the warrior raider to claim it for a tactical objective. Wyches can't kill the lone Grey Hunter. Razorwing kills 2 bikes, and the snap-fire warriors get a third - they fail morale and the bikers flee off the table. Haemy kills 3 grey hunters with an AP1 liquifier. Then, tactical genius that I am, I destroy the rhino with one of my Ravagers, allowing the grey hunters to spill out the back and contest Objective 4. Winner!
I charge in, and my Haemy manages to best the Wolf Guard in a challenge; I lose combat, but we remain locked. I gain 1 VP for securing Objective 1.
Turn 3 - Space Wolves
The last Rhino doesn't turn up at the point where he really needs it. He retains Hungry For Glory and Assassinate, and generates Secure Objective 6. The disembarked Grey Hunters move across and manage to glance the Party Boat twice with pistols and a grenade. The sole grey hunter ALSO gets a glance, and I fail my jink, and the Party Boat crashes! Noooo! Sliscus and friends dust themselves off and move into cover. The Rune Priest Enfeebles my wracks, getting Perils and losing a wound. The grey hunters then make a charge against Sliscus and friends; Sliscus kills 3 (including his wolf guard), and the grey hunters get only 1 kabalite, but they hold. On the other side, I lose all but two wracks in the combat, but manage to get rid of all the Grey Hunters on my way out. At the end of the Space Wolves' turn, they complete Hungry for Glory and Assassinate for 1 VP each.
End of turn 3. Objective Tracker: Dark Eldar 5, Space Wolves 4.
Turn 4 - Dark Eldar
I generate Secure Objective 2 to go along with Secure Objective 4 and Kingslayer. Venom arrives, landing near the surviving drop pod. Razorwing leaves. Unpainted Ravager moves to secure Objective 2 and does so, but immobilises itself on a ruin when it lands. The warriors are already in range for Objective 4 so I leave them; and the Reavers bladevane the last Grey hunter who was doing nothing useful, but I'm still grumpy about the demise of the Party Boat. I manage to wreck the drop pod with blasters. In combat, Sliscus cuts down even more Grey hunters and this time the few surviving wolves break, but I catch them. The Wolf Priest and Rune Priest easily kill my wracks and consolidate towards the venom. I gain 2 VPs for securing objectives 2 and 4.
Turn 4 - Space Wolves
He retains Secure Objective 6, and generates another Secure Objective 6 card, as well as Harness the Warp, netting a VP for generating a psychic power. Unsurprisingly, the Rhino comes in underneath Objective 6. He gets 5 warp charge in the psychic phase, and attempts to Smite the venom, but fails to cast with 3 dice. I point out that he can attempt to manifest Force, as it won't have any effect, but -will- net him the point for generating a power; he duly gets it, and I fail to deny. They then charge and wreck the venom, whilst in combat Sliscus carves through the few remaining Grey Hunters on his own. At the end of the turn, the Space Wolves have secured Objective 6, Secured Objective 6 again just to make sure, and manifested a power, gaining 3 VPs
End of turn 4. Objective Tracker: Dark Eldar 7, Space Wolves 7
Turn 5 - Dark Eldar
I generate Secure Objective 6, and Secure Objective 3 (originally I generate Secure Objective 2 but it was "32", which I had already achieved, so have to re-roll) to go with Kingslayer. Razorwing comes back on and heads for his warlord. Reavers move, and then turbo-boost to secure Objective 3 (under the drop pod, which is now a wreck). Raider moves towards objective 6, and I take two hull points from the rhino with my ravager. The trueborn, Razorwing, and other Ravager between them manage to take down his rune priest and wolf priest, netting me
Slay the Warlord, and a sole VP for Kingslayer, to go with my VP for Objective 3.
Turn 5 - Space Wolves
He generates Secure Objective 1, Secure Objective 3, and Secure Objective 4, none of which he has any realistic hope of doing. The Wolves, determined to go down swinging, disembark and destroy my raider and a few warriors. With that, we call the game.
End of the game!
The Dark Eldar have picked up 9 points from Tactical Objectives, plus all 3 secondary objectives, for a total of 12. The Space Wolves have 7 points from Tactical Objectives, and 0 secondaries, meaning its a
Dark Eldar Victory.
Maelstrom of War is fun. Very different to normal objectives. It HIGHLY rewards mobility, and I think Dark Eldar are going to be the second strongest army in the game for Maelstrom of War missions, behind Eldar (as they have Objective Secured jetbikes that can get anywhere and pinch objectives freely). I was really helped out here by the Space Wolves reserving so much, that then turned up piecemeal, meaning I could focus fire and isolate units and pick them off. Despite that, it got closer than I would have liked - I had a really nasty surprise when the Wolves picked up 3 objectives at one on turn 4 to level the game. I made two really big tactical mistakes that I can see (if anyone spots any more, please point them out!). First, destroying that Rhino on turn 3. Pointless (I could easily have done it next turn) and delayed me from picking up that objective point, meaning I had one fewer to go after the next turn. Secondly, I should have discarded Kingslayer on turn 1 along with Demolitions (thanks to my warlord trait). Yes, it's worth a potential 3 victory points once the wolf warlord goes down, but that took me until turn 5, and I wasn't getting a shot at him until at the earliest turn 4. What I should have done is just ditch it, and gained different objectives that I actually had a better chance of achieving.
As always, thanks for reading, and I look forward to bringing you more batreps as I get more games of 7th in
p.s. Sliscus is boss. Sky has competition.
Subject: Maelstrom of War - Cleanse and Control 
Thu May 29 2014, 12:59
