9th Edition 40k Battle Report 215- Dark Angels Ravenwing vs Drukhari

This week's battle report sees my Dark Angels Ravenwing take on the Drukhari in a 2000 pts mission in a barn stormer of a game! We were using the new Grand Tournament Missions 2021 rules, so had updates to some of the secondary missions, as well as points costs. We rolled up and got the Retrieval mission. 

My army consisted of:

Outrider Detachment

Primaris Chaplain on Bike- Master Orator, Warlord, Canticle of Hate, Recitation of Focus

Sammael

5 Bikers- TL Bolters, 2 Plasma Guns, Power Sword

5 Bikers- TL Bolters, Meltagun, Power Fist, Flamer

Landspeeder Typhoon- Multi-melta, Typhoon Missile Launcher

Attack Bike- Multi-melta

Ravenwing Apothecary- Selfless Healer, Chief Apothecary

5 Black Knights- Corvus Hammers

4 Black Knights- Corvus Hammers

Outrider Detachment

Talonmaster- Arbiter's Gaze, TL Heavy Bolters, TL Assault Cannon, Brilliant Strategist

3 Bikers- Plasma Gun, TL Bolters, Power Sword

3 Bikers- TL Bolters, Meltagun

3 Bikers- TL Bolters, Grav Gun

Landspeeder- Heavy Bolter, Assault Cannon

Landspeeder- Heavy Bolter, Assault Cannon

A few change ups from last week's army. I dropped the Darkshroud, to add more Black Knights. I just don't think it is worth the points any more, as the -1 to hit bubble is not as essential in the army any more. I also dropped the Champion to fit in the Black Knights. A few units went up in cost (Attack Bike, Apothecary and Talonmaster), while the Chaplain dropped a few points as well. 

Once more, I had a fast and mobile force, with a decent amount of firepower. 

Doug's army consisted of:

Patrol Detachment (Black Heart)

Archon- Hatred Eeternal, Huskblade, Overlord, Splintered Genius

10 Kabalite Trueborn- Dark Lance, 2 Blasters

5 Incubi

5 Incubi

Raider- Dark Lance 

Raider- Dark Lance 

Raider- Dark Lance 

Raider- Dark Lance 

Patrol Detachment

Haemonculus- Poisoner's Ampule, Twisted Animator, Alchemical Maestro

15 Wracks

17 Wracks

Patrol Detachment

Drazhar

Succubus- Precision Blows, Razorflails, Show Stealer

10 Wyches

10 Wyches

5 Mandrakes

10 Hellions

10 Hellions

That's a lot of bodies! Doug had brought some strong combat ability with the army, was well as four Raiders to transport them. This was a fast moving army, with a lot of combat punch and some decent firepower too. The army had recently been debuffed a little thanks to the FAQ, so it would be interesting to see how the Ravenwing would fare against them. 

We then deployed our forces. 

I split my army over the three sets of ruins in my deployment zone. I put the bulk of the Speeders, characters and Black Knights in the centre, with the other Bikers and Speeder on the ruins in the flank. 

Doug deployed two Raiders and the Archons in the centre. The Wracks and a unit of Hellions went on the right. The Mandrakes and Hellions were on the left flank. The Incubi, Trueborn and Wyches were in the Raiders, while the Scourges went in to reserve. 

For secondaries, I chose Engage on all Fronts and Death on the Wind. The third one was tricky. There weren't too many useable choices, thanks to Doug's army composition. I went with Deploy Teleport Homers, which could now be achieved with by Bikes. 

Doug chose Herd the Prey, Assassination and Retrieve Octarius Data. 

We rolled off for first turn and Doug won, going first. 

TURN 1- DRUKHARI

On the right, the Wracks and Haemonculus advanced towards the enemy lines, the Raider moving up to support them. On the left flank, two of the Raiders moved up to the large ruins, one using a stratagem to advance an automatic 8", while the Mandrakes and Hellions moved up to the cover of the ruins. The Hellions on the right started to Retrieve Octarius Data. 

With most of the army out of line of sight, there was little shooting. Two Raiders fired on the Bike squads on either flank with their Dark Lances. I failed both jink saves and two Bikers perished. 

That ended a rather quick turn. 

TURN 1- RAVENWING

In my command phase, Sammael gave his re-rolls to the Black Knights, while the Chaplain used the Recitation of Focus on them, as well as the Litany of Hate. 

The bulk of the Ravenwing pushed up the right flank, one unit of Bikers moving onto the objective, while another moved up on the Raiders. On the left flank, one Bike squad advanced, while the other moved onto the objective. The 5-man Bike Squad and Black Knights moved back to the middle objective, while the Speeders moved up to the ruins. Most units advanced to get the boosted Jink save. 

In the shooting phase, I used weapons of the Dark Age on the Black Knights to target a Raider. Doug used Lightning Fast Reactions to give me a further -1 to hit (counteracting the +1 from the Chaplain). The Plasma Talons managed to put five wounds on the Raider, four going through to destroy it. Two of the Incubi perished in the destruction. 

The Bikers ahead on the right flank fired at the Incubi, wiping out one squad. The Landspeeder Typhoon fired at the other Raider, but failed to do any damage. The rest of the squads on the right fired at the Raider, taking it down to 5 wounds with their combined firepower. 

On the other flank, the Bikers were able to kill 3 of the Wracks, while the Meltagun in the squad failed to damage the Raider. 

The Talonmaster and two Land Speeders opened up on the Wracks in front of them, killing 10 from the squad in total. 

In the charge phase, the Bike squad assaulted the Raider. I was able to swing them onto the objective to stop Doug from getting the full points in his turn. The Bikers put one wound on the Raider for no damage in return. 

At the end of my turn, I scored Death on the wind for 4 points (4/15) and 3 points for engage on all fronts (3/15). 

VICTORY POINTS:

Drukhari- 0

Ravenwing- 7

A good start for the Ravenwing, but the Drukhari were now getting into range for charges and their firepower, so they next turn could be brutal. 

TURN 2- DRUKHARI

In the command phase, the Mandrakes started to Retrieve Octarius Data, while the Haemonculus brought back one Wrack from a damaged unit. Doug scored 10 Primary points (10/45). 

The Incubi moved up on the Bikers holding the objective, while the Wyches moved up on the Black Knights. The Hellions flew over the ruins to target another Bike Squad. 

Two of the Raiders moved towards the centre, while the third fell back from combat to the other side of the ruins. On the left flank, the Wracks and Haemonculus advanced on the Dark Angels lines, while the Wyches disembarked, moving up on the Bikers to support Drazhar. 

In the shooting phase, one Raider fired at the central Land Speeder, hitting and wounding and taking five damage to leave it on one wound. The second Raider fired, destroying the enemy vehicle. The Trueborn were then able to target the Talonmaster. One Blaster and Dark Lance managed to wound, but I save both on his Jink save (with the use of a CP re-roll). 

Small arms fire targeted the Bikers on each flank, doing a couple of wounds and one wound on the Black Knights. 

The Drukhari then launched their assault. The Incubi charged the Bikers holding the objective. The Wyches charged the Black Knights, using a stratagem to stop their overwatch fire. The Hellions charged the Bikers, along with the Succubus. On the other flank, Drazhar charged the Bikers, while one unit of Wracks charged the other Bikers holding the objective. Both Drazhar and the Incubi failed in their ability to make the units in combat fight last. 

The Wyches struck first, killing three of the Black Knights. I then interrupted with the Bikers next to them. My plan was to attack the Incubi and use a stratagem to fall back and still hold the objective. the Bikers struck, killing two with the Power Fist on the Sergeant (using a CP re-roll). I then used my last 2 CP on Swift Strike to move out of range of the Incubi while still holding the objective. 

The Succubus struck at the Bikers, easily slaying them in combat, allowing the Hellions to consolidate into the cover of the ruins. On the other flank, the Wracks only managed to kill one of the Bikers in combat with them. 

The Black Knight struck at the Wyches, but only managed a single wound after some terrible rolling, which was easily dodged by the lithe Wyches. Doug then spent his last CP on fighting again with the Wyches, easily butchering the Black Knights and consolidating into the Apothecary. 

The Ravenwing character struck at the Wyches, but failed to do any harm. The unit of Bikers on the left flank managed to take down one of the Wracks in combat with them. 

At the end of his turn, Doug scored four points for Herd the Prey (4/15) and completed another Retrieve Occulus Data. 

TURN 2- RAVENWING

Thanks to some combat tricks last turn, I was able to score 10 victory points for the Primary mission (10/45). Sammael put his re-rolls on the Bikers next to him, while the Talonmaster used Brilliant Strategist to put himself in the Devastator Doctrine. The Chaplain managed to pass on the Litany of Hate and Canticle of Hate. I moved into the Tactical Doctrine. 

The Talonmaster and Landspeeder moved up to take on the Hellions in the ruins, while the attack Bike and Landspeeder Typhoon moved to engage the damaged Raider. The Apothecary fell back from combat, while the Black Knights and Chaplain moved up on the Wyches, while Sammael moved to engage the Incubi. The Bike squad on the right moved up towards the centre of the battlefield. 

On the left flank, the surviving Bikers fell back from the Wracks onto the objective, while the other Bike squad moved to target the Wracks. 

In the shooting phase, Sammael and the Chaplain opened fire on the Incubi, destroying the unit. The Talonmaster fired at the Hellions, killing six of the unit, while the other Landspeeder were able to kill two. 

The Bikers in the centre fired their Meltagun and Flamer at the Raider holding the Trueborn, but were unable to damage them. However, the Bolters of the squad were able to finish off the Hellions on the right flank. The Black Knights fired at the Wyches, killing 5 of the squad. 

The Landspeeder Typhoon fired at the same Raider. The Multi-melta managed a single wound with a CP re-roll, but only did one damage. The Missiles both missed! The Attack Bike was unable to 

The Bikers on the left flank fired at the Wracks. The Plasma Guns managed two wounds, but Doug made both 6+ invulnerable saves. The Bolters of the squad managed to kill one Wrack. 

In the charge phase, the Black Knights, Chaplain and Sammael assaulted the Wyches. The Bikers and Attack Bike charged the damaged Raider besides the ruins. 

In the fight phase, the Black Knights were able to wipe out the Wyches. The Bikers attacked the Raider, the Power Fist doing two wounds and the squad was able to finish off the vehicle. 

At the end of my turn, I scored 6 points for Death on the Wind (10/15) and two points for Engage on all Fronts (5/15). 

VICTORY POINTS

Drukhari- 14 (+2 Retrieve Octarius Data)

Dark Angels- 25

A strong lead for the Ravenwing at the end of turn 2, but Doug was in a strong position. He would score 15 Primary points and had a lot of units left to counter my units. I had yet to score any points for Deploy Teleport Homers, but Doug had yet to score Assassinate yet either. 

TURN 3- DRUKHARI

In the command phase, 3 Wracks returned from a unit and Doug scored 15 primary points (25/45). 

The Mandrakes crept into the shadows to go into reserve. One Wrack squad moved up on the Ravenwing Bikers to seize the objective, while the other unit held another objective. The Wyches moved to grab the other objective, while Drazhar advanced up the right flank. The Hellions advanced into the centre of the battlefield. 

Doug used the stratagem to once more advance a Raider 8" onto the objective Sammael was holding. Unfortunately, as I charged the Wyches, Doug was able to move so that Sammael could not heroically intervene. Had I remembered to use his pile in move in my fight phase, I could have moved to the centre of the objective and intervene. I may not have destroyed the empty Raider, but could have caused some damage at least. 

The Succubus and Archon moved up on the Talonmaster and Landspeeder. Finally, the Scourges arrived in the ruins on the right flank and began to retrieve the Octarius Data. 

In the shooting phase, the Trueborn fired at the Talonmaster, doing one wound with a Blaster, but only 1 damage to him. The Raider targeted the Talonmaster, failing to harm the speeder. A lucky escape for the Talonmaster! The Hellions fired at the Attack Bike, destroying it. 

In the charge phase, the Wracks assaulted the Ravenwing Bikers holding the objective. The Hellions charged the Bike Squad in the centre of the field. The Succubus charged both the Talonmaster and Landspeeder, but the Archon failed the 5" charge, even with a CP re-roll! Sadly, I had no CP remaining to overwatch with the Talonmaster, who would most likely have shredded the Succubus (though Doug would have likely charged the Raider in first). 

The Succubus attacked the Landspeeder, destroying it and causing it to explode, wounding herself and the Talonmaster. 

The Wracks attacked the Bikers, killing one of them. The Hellions attacked the Bikers in the centre, killing another two. 

The Ravenwing then struck back. The Talonmaster put two wounds on the Succubs and two Wracks were slain. 

At the end of the turn, Doug scored 2 points for Herd the Prey (6/15) and completed the action for Octarius Data. 

TURN 3- RAVENWING

In the command phase, Sammael put his re-rolls on the Black Knights, while the Chaplain got the Litany of Hate and Canticle of Hate off. I scored no primary points for this turn (10/45). 

The Power Fist Sergeant was bolstered by the Apothecary, who managed to revive one member of the squad. The other unit of Bikers moved to the left flank to target the Scourges. 

Sammael flew over the Raider to target the enemy forces, while the Chaplain and Black Knights moved up on the enemy vehicle. The Bikers in combat with the Hellions fell back to secure the objective, while the Talonmaster fell back towards the objective. I used the Hit and Run stratagem to allow him to still fire. The Landspeeder Typhoon moved into the far table quarter (to help me score Engage on all Fronts). 

In the shooting phase, the Ravenwing Bikers fired at the Scourges, killing the unit. The Talonmaster fired at the Succubus, obliterating her in a hail of fire. 

The Landspeeder Typhoon fired its Multi-melta at the Raider and the Frag Missiles at the Wyches. Both Multi-melta shots missed the Raider, while 3 Wyches were slain by the missiles. Sammael fired at the Hellions. His Storm Bolters proved ineffective, as I rolled five 1's to hit in his 8 shots! He did manage to slay one Hellion, while the Plasma Cannon failed to do any damage. 

The Black Knights fired at the Raider, doing 8 wounds on the skimmer and destroying it. The Chaplain was able to kill one of the Hellions with long range Bolter fire. 

In the charge phase, Sammael and the Black Knights managed to charge the Hellions, while the Apothecary assaulted the Wracks. The unit of four Bikers charged the 2nd squad of Wracks, to stop them from charging me in my turn. 

The Black Knights struck at the Hellions, killing the unit. The Apothecary was unable to wound the Wracks. The Wracks then struck at the Bikers, killing one more. The Bikers struck back, killing two of the Wracks. 

At the end of my turn, I scored Death on the Wind for four points for killing the Scourges and Hellions (14/15), and three points for Engage on all Fronts (8/15). 

VICTORY POINTS

Drukhari- 31 (+3 Retrieve Octarius Data)

Dark Angels- 32

At this stage, Doug had seized the lead. Denying me the primary points in my third turn was a big blow, especially as he scored the 15 points and would score them again in his next turn. He was also probably going to get the 12 points for Octarius data in his next turn. 

One mistake I think I made was going after the Scourges on this turn. If I had been able to kill the Wracks, I would have taken them off the objective and denied Doug 5 more primary points in his turn. However, I'm not sure I would have enough firepower to do so with just the Bikers and Apothecary, so decided to go for the easy kill on the Scourges instead. The boosted toughness of the Wracks thanks to the Haemonculus was difficult to get through. 

TURN 4- DRUKHARI

In his command phase, Doug brought back one Wrack from one unit and three from the other unit (one of this was in the movment phase by the Haemonculus). He also scored 15 primary points (40/45). 

The Archon moved up on the Talonmaster and Bikers, while the Wyches moved to engage the Landspeeder. Drazhar advanced towards the Black Knights, while the Mandrakes deployed deep in the Ravenwing deployment zone, starting to gather the Octarius Data once more. The Raider moved down from the ruins to target Sammael. 

The Raider fired at Sammael. The Dark Lance missed its mark. The squad inside then fired at him. The Blaster and Dark Lance missed as well. One Blaster managed to hit and wound, but was saved by his invulnerable save. 

In the charge phase, Drazhar assaulted the Black Knights, while the Archon charged the Talonmaster and Bikers holding the objective. The Wyches charged the Landspeeder Typhoon. 

Drazhar struck at the Black Knights, annihilating the unit. The Archon attack the Talonmaster, taking him down to a single wound remaining. I thought I had a chance to survive, but Doug said he had a once per game ability to allow the Archon to fight again, so he was likely to slay him. The Wyches attacked the Landspeeder, doing two wounds on the vehicle. 

The Bikers attacked the Wracks, only managing three hits out of 8 attacks and killing one Wrack. The Talonmaster managed two wounds on the Archon. He failed his first 2+ shadow field invulnerable save! I had a chance! The Biker Sergeant struck at the Archon and managed to kill him. 

The Wracks struck at the Bikers, killing two of them. 

At the end of the turn, Doug scored his 12 points for Retrieve Octarius Data and two points for Herd the Prey (8/15). 

TURN 4- RAVENWING 

In my turn, Sammael put the re-rolls on himself, and I scored 10 Primary points (20/45). 

Sammael moved up on the Raider, while the Bikers on the right moved up to grab the objective in the Drukhari deployment zone. They also started deploying the Teleport Homers. The Wyches were able to prevent the Landspeeder from falling back from combat. 

In my deployment zone, the lone Biker fell back towards the far objective. The other Bike squad and Apothecary fell back, the Apothecary reviving one of the Bikers. I used Hit and Run on the four man Bike squad to allow them to still shoot. 

Sammael opened fire on Drazhar, doing three wounds on him. The Landspeeder Typhoon fired at the Wyches, but missed with all four shots. 

The Bikers fired at the Mandrakes, but poor rolling saw only two slain (both Plasma guns missed their target). The Talonmaster fired at Drazhar, killing him (but only just). 

In the charge phase, Sammael assaulted the Raider, doing 8 wounds on the vehicle. The Wyches were able to kill the Landspeeder, the vehicle exploding to kill one Wych. 

At the end of my turn, I scored two points for Engage on all Fronts (10/15), four points for Teleport Homers (4/15) and another point for Death on the wind (15/15). 

VICTORY POINTS

Drukhari- 70

Dark Angels- 48

The Drukhari had built up quite a lead in their turn, but we both had few units left in the game. The final turn of the game would be decisive. 

TURN 5-DRUKHARI

In his command phase, Doug scored 5 more Primary points to max out on the mission (45/45). 

The Mandrakes moved up on the lone Bikers, while the Wracks moved up to surround the Bikers and Apothecary. 

The Trueborn disembarked from the Raider and moved up to secure the objective, while the Raider fell back from combat with Sammael. The Wyches advanced towards Sammael. 

In the shooting phase, the Trueborn fired at the Sammael and the Talonmaster. The Talonmaster was slain, while Sammael took four wounds from the Splinter Rifle fire. 

In the charge phase, the Mandrakes assaulted the lone Biker, while the Wracks charged the Apothecary and Bikers. The Wyches charged Sammael. 

The Wyches were easily able to kill Sammael in combat. The Mandrakes managed to put only one wound on the lone Biker. The Wracks were able to kill the Apothecary and one of the Bikers. 

The attacks back were able to kill one Wrack, but the Bikers were surrounded. 

At the end of his turn, Doug scored Assassinate (9/15) and Herd the Prey (10/15). 

TURN 5- RAVENWING

Being able to grab the objectives at the end of turn turn was a big boost for me, as I could move off to get them with my high mobility army. 

The lone Biker fell back onto the objective, while the Chaplain advanced towards the centre of the battlefield. He then used the stratagem to move again with the Chaplain, moving to grab an objective on the far side of the battlefield. The Bikers on the objective started the action to deploy Teleport Homers once more. 

There was no shooting, so in the fight phase, the Mandrakes were able to slay the Bikers. I managed to score 15 points on the Primary for grabbing the objectives (40/45), but couldn't score the bonus points for holding more as we had three each. 

At the end of the turn, I scored Engage in all fronts for 2 points (12/15) and Deploy teleport homers (8/15). 

The final scores were:

DRUKHARI:

Primary points- 45/45

Herd the Prey- 10/15

Retrieve Octarius Data- 12/15

Assassinate- 9/15

Total: 76 pts

RAVENWING

Primary points- 40/45

Death on the Wind- 15/15

Engage on all Fronts- 12/15

Deploy Teleport Homers- 8/15

Total: 75 pts

The Drukhari win by one point!

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS

Thanks to Doug for an incredible game. It ended up a lot closer than I thought, and I'm glad we got to play it till the end. 

The Drukhari have been toned down a bit since the recent FAQ and points adjustments, but they are still a formidable force to face off against. 

I think the Ravenwing army performed well again. Their mobility was a bit limited thanks to the terrain we used, as I was unable to move through the ruins with much of my army. However, the army was still fast enough to get to where I needed them to go. 

Once more, the Talonmaster showed his value to the army. He provides an incredible amount of strong firepower with the Arbiter's Gaze. This time, I gave him the Brilliant Strategist warlord trait, to allow him to stay in the Devastator Doctrine for three turns of the game. Not only does this allow him to still advance and shoot, but he is always hitting on a 2+. I just need to remember to save CP to allow him to fire overwatch. This would have eliminated the Succubus when she charged and allowed me to keep the objective that turn. 

Doug was quite unlucky with his Archon. Failing the first shadowfield save meant that he was vulnerable to the power fist on my Sergeant, allowing me to kill him. As I mentioned above, the Archon had an ability to fight again, so would have likely slain both the Talonmaster and Biker Squad. This would have put me much further behind in points, as I would not have been able to get the Teleport Homer points, as well as many primary points. This could have easily won me the game, with a few tactical changes for the rest of my turns. 

The Wracks were incredibly tough to deal with. They didn't really do a lot of damage, but the two large units pretty much controlled the other flank. Going to T5 with the Haemonculus, along with a 5+ invulnerable and 5+ FNP meant they were very resilient to my firepower. Plus, Doug was able to revive as many as I was killing each turn. The large squad size allowed them to grab the objectives from me each turn they moved up the board. The ability to advance and charge also meant that they were very quick. 

I'm not sure if getting first turn would have helped me much in this game. Most of Doug's army was out of line of sight (as was mine), so all it would have meant was sitting back in my deployment zone, or moving out to get charged on the first turn. 

The Landspeeder Typhoon was very disappointing in this game, in contrast to my last game. He didn't really do anything at all, other than kill a few Wyches. This was a combination of poor rolling for hits and good invulnerable saves from Doug. Most of the Raiders were taken out by the Plasma Talons of the Black Knights, or in combat with my Bikers. 

The movement stratagems are great for the Ravenwing and helped win me this game. The ability to move after fighting, or to move twice in a turn makes them great for grabbing objectives. I have used these stratagems to great effect in both my games so far. 

That was a great game, that couldn't have really been any closer. Thanks to Doug again for such a great match.