Welcome to battle report 3 of my games from the Rapid Fire 2015 tournament. After winning Game 1 and Game 2, I found myself on the lofty heights of table 4 facing up against James' Eldar.
The third mission was a special one called "The Emperor's Relic" using Dawn of War deployment. This mission featured a Relic in the centre of the board (which could be moved) and a fixed objective for each player to place in their deployment zone. The Relic was worth 5 pts, while each objective was worth 3 pts.
As a reminder, my army consisted of:
Kor'sarro Khan- Moondrakken (with CS)
Librarian- Mastery Level 2, Auspex, Meltabombs, Force Sword, Bolt Pistol (with C)
5 Command Squad- Mounted on bikes, 4 grav guns, 2 storm shields, Apothecary (CS)
5 Bikers- 2 Grav guns, sergeant has meltabombs (GB1)
5 Bikers- 2 Grav guns, sergeant has meltabombs (GB2)
5 Bikers- 2 Meltaguns, sergeant has meltabombs (MB)
10 Tactical marines- Meltagun, sergeant has combi-melta and meltabombs (TS1 and TS2)
Drop Pod- Storm Bolter (DP2)
5 Scouts- Bolt pistols, close combat weapons, sergeant has meltabombs (Sc)
Landspeeder Storm- Heavy Bolter, Cerberus Missile launcher (LS)
Drop Pod- Deathwind missile launcher (DP1)
Stormtalon- TL assault cannons, skyhammer missile launcher (ST)
2 Attack Bikes- Multimeltas (AB)
5 Devastators- 4 Missile Launchers (D)
Rhino- Storm Bolter (R)
3 Centurions- Grav amps and grav cannons, hurricane bolters (C)
My Librarian rolled on Telepathy and the first roll came up with Invisibility! I continued to roll on the table and got Hallucination and Psychic Shriek. I think this is only the second time I have ever gotten invisibility (albeit a comp'ed version at this tournament) as I rarely roll on Telepathy.
James' army consisted of:
Windrider Host
Farseer- Jetbike (F)
Warlock- Jetbike (W)
3 Jetbikes- Scatter lasers (J1)
3 Jetbikes- Scatter lasers (J2)
3 Jetbikes- Scatter lasers (J3)
Vyper- Shuriken cannon (V)
Aspect Host
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS1)
6 Swooping Hawks- Exarch (SH)
3 Dark Reapers- Exarch (DR)
Aspect Host
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS2)
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS3)
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS4)
Aspect Host
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS5)
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS6)
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS7)
Wraithknight (Large W)
Cullexus Assassin (C)
His Warlord trait was Night attacker, allowing him to choose Night Fighting and get night visions.
His psychic powers were:
Farseer- Fortune, Guide, Executioner and Will of Asuryan
Warlock- Conceal/Reveal, Quicken restraint
Lots of Warp Spiders, these would not be good as they can move 3 times per turn (in the movement, shooting and assault phase with their packs). Throw in a Wraithknight, Dark Reapers and lot of annoying Jetbikes and I was in for a tough fight.
I won the roll for table side and chose the one with the line of sight blocking hill. I also won the roll for deployment and chose to go first. I kept two units of bikes in reserve for some late game objective grabbing.
I deployed the Devastators in the ruins in the centre, with the attack bikes and speeder nearby. The Command squad and a rhino deployed to the right and the bikers to the left.
The Dark Reapers deployed with the Cullexus in the ruins alongside the Wraithknight. The Jetbikes went on the right flank with the Warlock and most of the Warp Spiders and the Swooping Hawks. The Farseer went in reserve.
I scouted forward with the Command Squad, Landspeeder storm and Bikers. James failed to seize and I got turn 1.
TURN 1- WHITE SCARS
The drop pod carrying the Centurions crashed down on the right flank as the Command squad drew up beside them. The bikers and attack bikes advanced while the Landspeeder storm moved up on the crater, the Scouts leaping out to grab the Relic.
In the psychic phase, the Libararian cast Invisibility on the Centurions, periling in the process but not taking any damage. He then cast Psychic Shriek on the Jetbikes, but was unable to roll high enough to cause any wounds.
The shooting phase began with the Deathwind firing at the Swooping Hawks. Two were killed as the shell struck them. The Centurions fired at the Wraithknight, causing nine wounds, of which three got through his cover save and Feel no Pain roll (I queried the cover save on the Wraithknight as only the bottom of his right leg below the knee was covered, much less than 25%, but I was overruled and he got a 3+ cover save).
The Command Squad fired at the front unit of Jetbikes, two were killed by the grav fire and the survivor fled from the board.
The Devastators fired frag missiles at the Warp Spiders, causing three wounds that were all saved.
TURN 1- ELDAR
The Dark Reapers, Warp Spiders and Wraithknight advanced on the Centurions. The Cullexus Assassin moved into range, negating Invisibility on the Centurions (I forgot he was hiding in the ruins as I could not see him).
The Swooping Hawks and Jetbikes advanced on the Command Squad.
The Dark Reapers started the shooting phase, firing at the Command Squad and killing two of the bikers. The first unit of warp spiders fired at the command squad, causing 5 wounds, all of which were saved. A second unit fired, causing another 6 wounds, which were once again all saved. A third unit fired also, causing 5 wounds. This time I failed three saves and three bikers died. Two more units of Warp Spiders fired at them and succeeded in wiping out the unit.
The Swooping Hawks fired at the drop pod, glancing it once. The last unit of Warp Spiders fired at the Scouts, killing one and making them drop the Relic.
In the combat phase, the Wraithknight charged the Centurions. His attacks killed one Centurion, then his stomp attack rolled a 6 on the table and the entire unit was obliterated. The Swooping Hawks charge the drop pod, easily wrecking it with their Haywire grenades.
James used his assault moves to form a "conga line" of Eldar along one of the short board edges to stop my Outflanking units from arriving- such a tournament move if there ever was one (but very effective!).
Not the greatest of turns for me, I had killed one Eldar unit and had lost my two biggest threats on the first turn. I did not see my luck changing any time soon.
TURN 2- WHITE SCARS
My second turn started equally as well, when a unit of bikers arrived from reserve. Naturally, I rolled the side with the Eldar line for Outflanking and the unit was destroyed without deploying. The Stormtalon arrived on the board, moving along to target the Wraithknight. The drop pod also arrived. I deployed them on the right, far from the enemy army. With any luck they would survive to get Linebreaker.
The grav bikers moved up to get towards the Relic and claimed it, though the chances of them holding it were slim.
In the shooting phase, I fired the Stormtalon at the Wraithknight, the Tactical marines at a unit of Warp Spiders and shot at the Culexus, but did not cause any wounds. The Devastators managed to kill three Warp Spiders, but they passed their morale.
TURN 2- ELDAR
The Wraithknight and Warp Spiders advanced on the Relic, while the conga line stayed in place.
The Farseer cast Fortune on the Wraithknight, but periled in the process and took a wound.
The Dark Reapers killed four bikers and they dropped the Relic, a unit of Warp Spiders finishing the unit off. The Jetbikes glanced the Rhino to death. A unit of Warp spiders killed the Scouts. Two unit of Warp Spiders fired at the Landspeeder storm, but the Jinking of the pilot meant it only suffer one HP damage. A unit shot at the Stormtalon, but I jinked and it only took one hull point damage.
TURN 3- WHITE SCARS
The final unit of bikers arrived. Fortunately, they came on the left flank and were not destroyed. The Attack bikes moved up towards the centre.
The Stormtalon snap fired at the Farseer and managed to slay him with his assault cannon. The Attack Bikes fired at the Wraithknight and managed to wound it. The Devastators fired at the Wraithknight (I couldn't win, but at least I might be able to kill it), but missed with three of their four shots. The one that hit failed to wound.
The Landspeeder storm fired at a Warp spider, its snap shots killing one.
TURN 3- ELDAR
A unit of warp spiders moved to grab the Relic. The units from the Eldar line moved to grab the objectives and target my army.
The swooping hawks moved forward 14" over the Stormtalon, then back 2" away from it so they could land. This was done so that they could launch a special attack on the flyer. Again, I queried this and was overruled. As they had technically moved over it, they were allowed to attack it, I thought they would have to completely move over it, but the ambiguous wording of the rule did not make this the case. The attack destroyed the Stormtalon and it crashed to the ground.
The Dark Reapers fired at the Devastators, killing one. The Jetbikes fired at the unit, killing another two. The Wraithknight fired at the drop pod, its Destroyer blasts wrecking it.
The Warp Spiders used their Jetpack move to run away with the Relic.
TURN 4- WHITE SCARS
I moved my bikers and Attack bike up to the Wraithknight to try and kill it. In the shooting phase, I fired at it with two grav guns, a multimelta and two missile launchers. I managed to put a single wound on it, leaving it on one wound (I think I missed with both missiles and failed to wound with the grav guns).
TURN 4- ELDAR
The Eldar units moved to engage the Tactical marines and bikers.
They fired at them, wiping out the tactical marines and drop pod, the bikers, landspeeder and attack bike. I think I had the two Devastators left at the end of the game.
So, at the end of the game, the results were:
WHITE SCARS- 0 VP (+Slay the Warlord)
ELDAR- 11 VP (+Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker and Draw Blood).
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
As you can probably judge from the write up, I did not enjoy this game all that much. I thought I had a good chance with my speed and manoeuvrability, but very quickly it became apparent that it would not go well for me.
James was a great opponent, he had a very strong army and played it brilliantly. He even offered to take me out for a drink to commiserate my gubbing, but unfortunately, I had to drive back through to St Andrews and couldn't take him up on it.
There were a few errors in my game that I could have improved on.
Sending the command squad and Centurions after the majority of the army was a mistake, but I didn't think I had much of a choice. Had I deployed them on the other side of the table, it may have bought me a turn or two, but I don't think the end result would have changed much. James' army was very fast thanks to the swooping hawks, jetbikes and Warp Spiders (who have the potential to move 36" per turn).
The Warp Spiders were very powerful. Each time they are shot at, they get to move 2D6" in any direction, meaning it is easy for them to get out of range of line of sight of most of my weapons. Taking out 7 units of them was going to be tough.
In the first turn, I should have cast Invisibility on the Command Squad. I forgot about the Cullexus and he was able to negate the power on the Centurions. He would not have been able to get the range on the Command Squad and they may have survived the turn to take out some of the Eldar units or at least get in to combat and stopped them from being shot at (though the Wraithknight would most likely have finished them off in turn 2).
I was not expecting the conga line to be used to destroy my Outflanking bikers. It's a total tournament move, not something I come up against much in regular play.
I don't think there was much I could have done differently in the game to pull a victory. James had a very tough army and he played it very well. I was hoping that my next game in the morning would go a lot better. The next mission was kill points, so I checked the play sheet and found out that my next opponent was using a Necron Decurion.........I did not foresee it going well.
James' army consisted of:
Windrider Host
Farseer- Jetbike (F)
Warlock- Jetbike (W)
3 Jetbikes- Scatter lasers (J1)
3 Jetbikes- Scatter lasers (J2)
3 Jetbikes- Scatter lasers (J3)
Vyper- Shuriken cannon (V)
Aspect Host
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS1)
6 Swooping Hawks- Exarch (SH)
3 Dark Reapers- Exarch (DR)
Aspect Host
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS2)
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS3)
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS4)
Aspect Host
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS5)
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS6)
5 Warp Spider- Exarch (WS7)
Wraithknight (Large W)
Cullexus Assassin (C)
His Warlord trait was Night attacker, allowing him to choose Night Fighting and get night visions.
His psychic powers were:
Farseer- Fortune, Guide, Executioner and Will of Asuryan
Warlock- Conceal/Reveal, Quicken restraint
Lots of Warp Spiders, these would not be good as they can move 3 times per turn (in the movement, shooting and assault phase with their packs). Throw in a Wraithknight, Dark Reapers and lot of annoying Jetbikes and I was in for a tough fight.
I won the roll for table side and chose the one with the line of sight blocking hill. I also won the roll for deployment and chose to go first. I kept two units of bikes in reserve for some late game objective grabbing.
I deployed the Devastators in the ruins in the centre, with the attack bikes and speeder nearby. The Command squad and a rhino deployed to the right and the bikers to the left.
The Dark Reapers deployed with the Cullexus in the ruins alongside the Wraithknight. The Jetbikes went on the right flank with the Warlock and most of the Warp Spiders and the Swooping Hawks. The Farseer went in reserve.
 |
| Deployment and Scout moves. |
I scouted forward with the Command Squad, Landspeeder storm and Bikers. James failed to seize and I got turn 1.
TURN 1- WHITE SCARS
The drop pod carrying the Centurions crashed down on the right flank as the Command squad drew up beside them. The bikers and attack bikes advanced while the Landspeeder storm moved up on the crater, the Scouts leaping out to grab the Relic.
In the psychic phase, the Libararian cast Invisibility on the Centurions, periling in the process but not taking any damage. He then cast Psychic Shriek on the Jetbikes, but was unable to roll high enough to cause any wounds.
The shooting phase began with the Deathwind firing at the Swooping Hawks. Two were killed as the shell struck them. The Centurions fired at the Wraithknight, causing nine wounds, of which three got through his cover save and Feel no Pain roll (I queried the cover save on the Wraithknight as only the bottom of his right leg below the knee was covered, much less than 25%, but I was overruled and he got a 3+ cover save).
The Command Squad fired at the front unit of Jetbikes, two were killed by the grav fire and the survivor fled from the board.
The Devastators fired frag missiles at the Warp Spiders, causing three wounds that were all saved.
TURN 1- ELDAR
The Dark Reapers, Warp Spiders and Wraithknight advanced on the Centurions. The Cullexus Assassin moved into range, negating Invisibility on the Centurions (I forgot he was hiding in the ruins as I could not see him).
The Swooping Hawks and Jetbikes advanced on the Command Squad.
The Dark Reapers started the shooting phase, firing at the Command Squad and killing two of the bikers. The first unit of warp spiders fired at the command squad, causing 5 wounds, all of which were saved. A second unit fired, causing another 6 wounds, which were once again all saved. A third unit fired also, causing 5 wounds. This time I failed three saves and three bikers died. Two more units of Warp Spiders fired at them and succeeded in wiping out the unit.
The Swooping Hawks fired at the drop pod, glancing it once. The last unit of Warp Spiders fired at the Scouts, killing one and making them drop the Relic.
In the combat phase, the Wraithknight charged the Centurions. His attacks killed one Centurion, then his stomp attack rolled a 6 on the table and the entire unit was obliterated. The Swooping Hawks charge the drop pod, easily wrecking it with their Haywire grenades.
James used his assault moves to form a "conga line" of Eldar along one of the short board edges to stop my Outflanking units from arriving- such a tournament move if there ever was one (but very effective!).
Not the greatest of turns for me, I had killed one Eldar unit and had lost my two biggest threats on the first turn. I did not see my luck changing any time soon.
TURN 2- WHITE SCARS
My second turn started equally as well, when a unit of bikers arrived from reserve. Naturally, I rolled the side with the Eldar line for Outflanking and the unit was destroyed without deploying. The Stormtalon arrived on the board, moving along to target the Wraithknight. The drop pod also arrived. I deployed them on the right, far from the enemy army. With any luck they would survive to get Linebreaker.
The grav bikers moved up to get towards the Relic and claimed it, though the chances of them holding it were slim.
In the shooting phase, I fired the Stormtalon at the Wraithknight, the Tactical marines at a unit of Warp Spiders and shot at the Culexus, but did not cause any wounds. The Devastators managed to kill three Warp Spiders, but they passed their morale.
TURN 2- ELDAR
The Wraithknight and Warp Spiders advanced on the Relic, while the conga line stayed in place.
The Farseer cast Fortune on the Wraithknight, but periled in the process and took a wound.
The Dark Reapers killed four bikers and they dropped the Relic, a unit of Warp Spiders finishing the unit off. The Jetbikes glanced the Rhino to death. A unit of Warp spiders killed the Scouts. Two unit of Warp Spiders fired at the Landspeeder storm, but the Jinking of the pilot meant it only suffer one HP damage. A unit shot at the Stormtalon, but I jinked and it only took one hull point damage.
TURN 3- WHITE SCARS
The final unit of bikers arrived. Fortunately, they came on the left flank and were not destroyed. The Attack bikes moved up towards the centre.
The Stormtalon snap fired at the Farseer and managed to slay him with his assault cannon. The Attack Bikes fired at the Wraithknight and managed to wound it. The Devastators fired at the Wraithknight (I couldn't win, but at least I might be able to kill it), but missed with three of their four shots. The one that hit failed to wound.
The Landspeeder storm fired at a Warp spider, its snap shots killing one.
TURN 3- ELDAR
A unit of warp spiders moved to grab the Relic. The units from the Eldar line moved to grab the objectives and target my army.
The swooping hawks moved forward 14" over the Stormtalon, then back 2" away from it so they could land. This was done so that they could launch a special attack on the flyer. Again, I queried this and was overruled. As they had technically moved over it, they were allowed to attack it, I thought they would have to completely move over it, but the ambiguous wording of the rule did not make this the case. The attack destroyed the Stormtalon and it crashed to the ground.
The Dark Reapers fired at the Devastators, killing one. The Jetbikes fired at the unit, killing another two. The Wraithknight fired at the drop pod, its Destroyer blasts wrecking it.
The Warp Spiders used their Jetpack move to run away with the Relic.
TURN 4- WHITE SCARS
I moved my bikers and Attack bike up to the Wraithknight to try and kill it. In the shooting phase, I fired at it with two grav guns, a multimelta and two missile launchers. I managed to put a single wound on it, leaving it on one wound (I think I missed with both missiles and failed to wound with the grav guns).
TURN 4- ELDAR
The Eldar units moved to engage the Tactical marines and bikers.
They fired at them, wiping out the tactical marines and drop pod, the bikers, landspeeder and attack bike. I think I had the two Devastators left at the end of the game.
So, at the end of the game, the results were:
WHITE SCARS- 0 VP (+Slay the Warlord)
ELDAR- 11 VP (+Slay the Warlord and Linebreaker and Draw Blood).
AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
As you can probably judge from the write up, I did not enjoy this game all that much. I thought I had a good chance with my speed and manoeuvrability, but very quickly it became apparent that it would not go well for me.
James was a great opponent, he had a very strong army and played it brilliantly. He even offered to take me out for a drink to commiserate my gubbing, but unfortunately, I had to drive back through to St Andrews and couldn't take him up on it.
There were a few errors in my game that I could have improved on.
Sending the command squad and Centurions after the majority of the army was a mistake, but I didn't think I had much of a choice. Had I deployed them on the other side of the table, it may have bought me a turn or two, but I don't think the end result would have changed much. James' army was very fast thanks to the swooping hawks, jetbikes and Warp Spiders (who have the potential to move 36" per turn).
The Warp Spiders were very powerful. Each time they are shot at, they get to move 2D6" in any direction, meaning it is easy for them to get out of range of line of sight of most of my weapons. Taking out 7 units of them was going to be tough.
In the first turn, I should have cast Invisibility on the Command Squad. I forgot about the Cullexus and he was able to negate the power on the Centurions. He would not have been able to get the range on the Command Squad and they may have survived the turn to take out some of the Eldar units or at least get in to combat and stopped them from being shot at (though the Wraithknight would most likely have finished them off in turn 2).
I was not expecting the conga line to be used to destroy my Outflanking bikers. It's a total tournament move, not something I come up against much in regular play.
I don't think there was much I could have done differently in the game to pull a victory. James had a very tough army and he played it very well. I was hoping that my next game in the morning would go a lot better. The next mission was kill points, so I checked the play sheet and found out that my next opponent was using a Necron Decurion.........I did not foresee it going well.
Rapid Fire 2015:
Game 3- White Scars vs Eldar
Armies on Display
another good report.
ReplyDeletewow you did take a bit of a beating this time!
i think you were spread out too much and therefore couldn't saturate targets with enough firepower.
you could have been bolder with the centurions and gone after the wraithknight. even in cover you could have got a few wounds on it
Thanks again! It was an absolute mauling and not a pleasant experience.
DeleteI think spreading out and keeping stuff in reserve was my mistake. I should have focused on the Relic rather than try to take on the whole enemy army with only two units. I was hard to target the Warp Spiders, as every time I shot at them they could use their special move to get out of range or line of sight, so I was only getting one unit firing at a squad each turn.
As for the Centurions, I did target the Wraithknight on the turn they arrived and caused a few wounds, but not enough to kill it. It then charged them next turn and wiped them out too easily (damn that Cullexus!)
This is exactly the kind of game to pull out those Relic shenanigans I mentioned a while ago. Scout some Bikes onto it, with one just barely on and another behind it, pick it up and pass it back in your Movement Phase, while the rest of the Unit moves forward to take hits for the bearer. Then Turbo-Boost back 6" and you've got the thing in your DZ Turn 1. Invisibility on the Unit holding the Relic might have been a good call, too.
ReplyDeleteProbably also would have been a good idea to bring the Cents in a bit more conservatively, moving them back from their Drop Pod so they were as close as possible to the 24" mark from the WraithKnight. Unless there was a modification in the Tournament Rules, the WK was entitled to a Cover Save there, just by being partially within the Base of the Ruin. Only Vehicles always require 25% coverage.
The call on Swooping Hawks bombing your Storm Talon was super-sketchy, tho. Technically doesn't break any rules, but only because the rulebook is so vague on the topic.
Finally, starting everything on the Board instead of Outflanking probably would have been better here, but if you do end up in this sort of situation again, keeping something cheap like that Rhino near a back corner (like an inch and a half away from the board edge on both sides) can guarantee you some room to come on if someone tries to block you like that.
Bummer you had to go through one of those Games. If you're not ready for 'em, they're no fun.
I agree with all your points, I should have tried the Relic shenanigans, I will try to remember for next time.
DeleteIn this game, I really think I wasted the Centurions and Command Squad. They died achieving very little. I should have focused them on the Relic and supported my other squads.
That's a good tip with the Rhino, I never thought of that. Would have saved my unit (and possibly my mood).
Unless you play at that level at least semi-regularly, it's super easy to forget about stuff like that. Even as someone who does, it's way easier to point it out over the internets, from the comfort of my apartment, than to see it when I'm actually staring down a brutal list like that with the clock running and a hall full of other games going on around me.
DeleteSounds like a very tough match up. I don't know that I'd of done any better against what seems like a really tight list! Unfortunately the way the rules are the cover save thing is correct I think. The swooping Hawks thing I don't know about ; it seems like a gw. Type rule thou :(
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was a very tough match up. After turn 1, I didn't feel like I had much hope of getting many points in the game, never mind a win.
Delete