Battle Report 46- 1500 pts Astra Militarum vs Eldar

This week's battle report was one of my campaign games from my Medusa IV map campaign. Armel's Eldar (a powerful faction in the campaign) had decided to try and usurp the Shield Generator tile from my Planetary defence force, so we found ourselves in conflict for the first time during the campaign. I know how strong the Eldar are at the moment and was interested to see how the game would turn out.

 

Thanks to the campaign rules, I would have a 50 pts bonus to my army, hopefully it would make all the difference. My army consisted of:

COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT

Company Command Squad- Vox, 2 plasma guns, Company Standard, Laurels of Command (CC)
Priest (with S1A)
Priest (with S2C)
Commissar (with LT)
Commissar (with MLT)
Primaris Psyker- Level 1 psyker (with S1A)

Platoon Command 1- 2 Flamers, Vox (PC1)
Infantry Squad 1A- Autocannon, Vox (S1A)
Infantry Squad 1A- Autocannon (S2A)
Infantry Squad 1B- Autocannon, Vox (S1B)
Heavy Weapons Team 1- Lascannons (LT)
Heavy Weapons Team 2- Heavy Bolters (HBT)

Platoon Command 2- 2 Flamers, Vox (PC2)
Chimera- Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Extra Armour, Dozer blades (C1)
Infantry Squad 2A- Grenade Launcher, vox (S2A)
Infantry Squad 2B- Grenade Launcher, vox (S2B)
Infantry Squad 2C- Grenade Launcher (S2C)
Heavy Weapons Team 3- Missile Launchers (MLT)

Veterans- 3 Meltaguns (V)
Chimera- Multilaser, Heavy Bolter, Extra Armour, Dozer blades (C2)

Wyvern 1 (W1)
Wyvern 2 (W2)
Aegis Defence Line

Culexus Assassin (A)

For my army, I decided to focus on an infantry heavy force backed up by two Wyverns. The army was led by a company command squad with a Regimental standard to help keep my units in check and the Laurels of Command to give me more control over the closer units. I then took two large infantry platoons- one armed with Autocannons and the other with grenade launchers. Three heavy weapons teams were also added to the platoons; lascannons and missile launchers to deal with a Wraithknight or any vehicles, and heavy bolters to deal with jetbikes or fragile Eldar bodies.
A unit of veterans with meltaguns in a Chimera would be there to grab objectives and deal with any armoured threats. I also took 2 wyverns as these should hopefully make a mess of any jetbikes or foot units and an Aegis line to keep the bulk of my army safe.

I decided not to take any battle tanks in the army. Between D weapons and Bright Lances, I did not think that any tanks would survive long enough to be useful.

I also decided to take a Culexus assassin to try and shut down any Eldar psykers that Armel decided to field. I bought the Assassins game in order to get all 4 assassin models and this is the first time that I would be using any of them in a game.

My plan was to swamp the objectives with masses of Guardsmen to win the game through a war of attrition- hopefully I had more bodies than Armel could kill in a game.

My warlord trait was Draconian Disciplinarian. This would be useful, allowing me to ignore morale checks caused by the Eldar shooting within range of the Warlord. My Primaris got Prescience and Foreboding.

Armel's army consisted of:
COMBINED ARMS DETACHMENT
Autarch- Fusion Pistol, Haywire Grenades, Mandiblaster, Power Weapon, Warp Jump generator (with WS)
Spiritseer- Shuriken pistol, Witchstaff (with DA)

3 Windriders- 2 Shuriken cannons and Shuriken catapult (W1)
3 Windriders- 2 Shuriken cannons and Shuriken catapult (W2)
Wraithknight- Two Heavy Wraithcannons (WK)

ASPECT HOST
5 Dire Avengers- Exarch (DA)
5 Striking Scorpions- Exarch with Biting Blade (SS)
5 Warp Spiders- Exarch with TL Death Spinner (WS)

SKYRUNNER SEER COUNCIL
Farseer- Jetbike, Ghosthelm, Runes of the Farseer (SC)
Farseer- Jetbike, Ghosthelm, Runes of the Farseer
5 Warlocks- Jetbikes

Aegis Defence Line- Quad Gun

Armel's warlord trait (Farseer) gave him -1 to my Reserve rolls. For his (many) psychic powers, he got:
Farseer (warlord)- Terrify, Hallucination, Mental Fortitude, Psychic Shriek
Farseer- Will of Asyrun, Mind War, Eldritch Storm, Guide
Warlocks- Destructor/Renewer, Protect/Jinx and Conceal/Reveal
Spiritseer- Terrify, Mental Fortitude, Psychic Shriek

Quite a compact, nasty Eldar army. Any Eldar army is going to be a tough prospect and this one, although small, contained a lot of fast unit. The Jetbikes could go anywhere on the board really quickly. I was also worried about the Wraithknight. I had assumed that Armel would take one and wondered if I had enough firepower to deal with it before it got to my lines. With its invulnerability to most of my units in combat and its Stomp attacks, it could make a real mess of my gunline.

My lone Primaris psyker was severely outclassed, but hopefully my Assassin could deal with the enemy psykers (it was nice of them to provide a buffet for him). At least he never got Invisibility.

We rolled for mission and got Crusade (with 3 objectives) on Hammer and Anvil deployment. This was a blessing and a curse for me; Hammer and Anvil meant that Armel could get out of range of my guns very easily, but if he attacked one part of my line, he would be in range of most of my guns the following turn.

We placed the objectives in a fairly even fashion- one in the centre and one in each of our deployment zones. I won the roll for deployment zone and chose the side to my left. I lost the roll for deployment and Armel chose to deploy first.

He deployed his Aegis line at the edge of his deployment zone. The Wraithknight went in the centre besides the Dire Avengers (joined by the Spiritseer). One unit of Windriders went on each flank, with the Seer Council deploying on his left.

I deployed my Aegis line on my right, opposite the Seer Council. The combined Autocannon squads went behind the Aegis line, with one of the Grenade launcher squads in front to advance. The Company Command and two of the heavy weapons teams went in the centre, the Lascannon team with good line of sight to the enemy army. The missile launcher team went to the right, supported by the Grenade launcher squads and last Autocannon squad.
The Chimeras went to the back, ready to move up in the final turns to get the objectives, while the Wyverns stayed back to harass the Eldar. The Commissars joined the Heavy Weapons teams to help them with their order rolls.

I won the roll for infiltrate and chose to put the Assassin as close to the Seer Council as possible. He was out in the open, but I hoped his rules would protect him (he is shot at using BS1) and allow me to close with his target quickly. Armel then deployed his striking scorpions behind the central bastion.

Deployment. The shields represent the three objectives.

I failed to seize the initiative and Armel took the first turn.

TURN 1- ELDAR

The Eldar jetbikes advanced slightly, moving to the other side of the Aegis line to get in range of their guns. The Wraithknight also advanced around the Bastion to target the Guard lines.

The presence of so many psykers boosted the warp power in the area as Armel rolled a 6 (to add to his already impressive number of warp charge dice). The Farseer began by casting Guide on the Dire Avengers (that I failed to block). He then cast Hallucination on Infantry Squad 2A, periling in the process. He re-rolled the two 6's and used his Farseer's re-roll, but managed to roll another two and periled once again. He rolled a one on the table, but passed his leadership test and expended another warp charge to avoid taking a wound. The infantry squad passed their pinning test and were unharmed.
He then cast Protect on the Seer Council, boosting their already impressive armour save, then cast Mental Fortitude and Shrouding on the Council to protect them further.

In the shooting phase, the three Windriders on the left fired on the Culexus Assassin. Despite needing 6's to hit, they managed to wound the Assassin once. The Dire Avengers fired at Assassin, hitting three times thanks to Guide and wounded him yet again (I had failed my invulnerable save on both wounds).

The Wraithknight fired at one of the Wyverns in the centre. The cover of the ruins failed to protect it and the vehicle was wrecked by the D weapons of the Knight.

The other unit of Windriders fired on Infantry Squad 2B, killing 3 of the squad. The Jetbikes used their assault moves to retreat from the Guard lines to safety.

Not a terrible first turn for me, I had lost a Wyvern, a few guardsmen and the Assassin was almost dead. In Armel's first turn, I had to take four 4+ saves and did not make a single one. Hopefully, my rolling would improve as the game went on.

TURN 1- ASTRA MILITARUM

The squads of Platoon 2 advanced towards the enemy lines, eager to grab the objective in the centre. The Assassin moved back behind the Aegis line, he would wait for his quarry to come to him.

In the psychic phase, the powers of the warp were more subdued after the last turn and I only got 2 power dice to Armel's 15! (I managed to move the Culexus into range of my psyker, so he did not manifest any dice that turn with him). Somehow, I actually managed to cast Prescience on the Lascannon weapons team and Armel was unable to block it.

The Wyvern fired at the Windriders on my left flank, the missile artillery shells striking their target and obliterating the enemy unit.

The Company Command squad ordered the Lascannon team to Bring Down the Wraithknight (get to re-roll wounds). The squad wounded the Knight three times, one of which got past its cover save. Infantry Squad 1A fired on the gargantuan creature, hitting once with their 4 autocannon shots, but managed to take another wound from the Knight.

The Missile launcher and Heavy Bolter teams targeted the Wraithknight, but failed to cause any damage. Finally, the two Chimeras targeted the massive construct and managed to take it down to one wound!

Infantry Squad 2A fired at the Dire Avengers. Despite going to ground behind the Aegis Line (for a 2+ cover save), three of the aspect warriors were slain by the lasguns of the Guard.

I good turn for me, I had killed one unit of Jetbikes and had taken the Wraithknight down to a single wound after some great shooting rolls.

TURN 2- ELDAR

The Warp Spiders arrived from reserve, landing on the left flank of the guard lines next to the missile launcher team. The Wraithknight retreated to the cover of the Bastion, while the Eldar jetbikes advanced once more towards their enemy.

The powers of the warp were strong once again as Armel rolled another 6 (giving him 19 power dice in total). The Farseer attempted to cast Guide on the Windriders, but I managed to block the attempt. He then cast Renewer on the Wraithknight, giving it back a wound.
The Farseer then cast Eldritch Storm on Infantry squad 2B. The farseer periled once again, but managed to negate the wound with the Ghosthelm. The storm hit the squad, killing 6 of them. The other Farseer then cast Psychic Shriek on Infantry Squad 2A (periling for a second time, but avoiding it with the Farseer's re-roll), killing 6 of the squad. Both squads passed their morale checks.

In the shooting phase, the Wraithknight fired at the front Chimera, but missed with both shots. The Dire Avengers fired the Quad gun at the Assassin, wounding him once, but I finally passed a save and the Culexus survived.

The Warp Spiders fired at the missile launchers, wiping the unit out. The Eldar Jetbikes then used their assault moves to retreat once again.

TURN 2- ASTRA MILITARUM

The infantry squads from Platoon 2 continued to advance towards the Eldar. The Culexus Assassin also moved up towards the central objective. The Primaris psyker left the Infantry Squad and joined the Company Command squad.

In the psychic phase, I rolled a 3 and tried to cast Prescience on the Lascannon team, but failed to manifest a single warp charge on 4 dice.

The Wyvern fired at the Seer Council, hitting the target and wounding the unit 10 times. Despite having a 2+ armour save, three of the Warlocks died in the barrage. The shots also hit the Dire Avengers, wiping out the unit and the Spiritseer.

The Heavy Bolter team, Infantry Squads 2A and 2B fired at the Seer Council and managed to wound the Farseer twice.

The Company Command squad ordered the Lascannon team to ignore the Wraithknight's cover, but the squad only hit once with their 3 shots and failed to wound the construct. Infantry Squad 1B and the Veteran's Chimera attempted to fire on the Wraithknight, but their shots failed to wound.

The other Chimera attempted to kill the Farseer, but failed to wound the unit.

Quite another good turn for me, Armel was having my level of armour save rolls with the Seer Council, resulting in several dead warlocks and a severely wounded Farseer.

TURN 3- ELDAR

The jetbikes advanced on the guard swarming the centre of the battlefield. The Warp Spiders moved to the rear of the Veteran's Chimera.

In the psychic phase, the Farseer cast Psychic Shriek on Infantry Squad 2C, hitting the unit but failing to roll high enough to wound. The warlocks cast Renewer on the Wraithknight, bringing it back to 3 wounds. He then failed to cast Protect on the Seer Council.
The other Farseer cast Eldritch Storm on the guard in front of him, killing 6 from Infantry squad 2C and wounding one of the Lascannon teams.

The Wraithknight split its fire between the two Chimeras. One hit, but was saved by the cover, the other shot missed.

The Warp Spiders fired at the Wyvern, penetrating the tank's armour and causing it to explode, killing one of the Warp Spiders in the process.

The Jetbikes used their assault moves to get move away from the Guard once again.

TURN 3- ASTRA MILITARUM

The remnants of Platoon 2 continued their march towards the Eldar, backed up by the Culexus Assassin. In the psychic phase, the Primaris psyker attempted to cast Prescience on the Lascannon team, but his meagre efforts were blocked by the Eldar psykers.

The Company Command once again ordered the Lascannon weapons team to fire on their target (Ignore cover), the squad hitting the Wraithknight once, but failing to wound it.

Infantry squads 2B and 2C fired their grenade launchers at the Wraithknight, but failed to wound the creature. The two Chimeras also fired at the construct, but failed to cause any damage, as did Infantry Squad 1B.

The Heavy Bolter team fired at the Windriders, wounding them once, but failing to get past their armour save.

With that, my turn was over. Not a lot of damage caused this turn, but I still had the numbers superiority by a large margin.

TURN 4- ELDAR

The Striking Scorpions decided that now was the time to act, leaving  the cover of the Bastion to go after the Assassin. The Jetbikes moved up to support them in their attack. In the guard deployment zone, the Warp Spiders moved to the rear of the Chimera.

In the psychic phase, yet another 6 was rolled by Armel for the power this turn. He began by casting renew on the Wraithknight once again. He then cast Eldritch Storm on the Guard infantry, but a large scatter saw only one Guardsman die from the attack.
He then cast Mind War on Infantry Squad 2C, killing the guardsman with the Grenade Launcher. Finally, the Farseer cast Guide on the Wraithknight.

In the shooting phase, the Wraithknight fired at the closest Chimera. Both hit, but again, some great cover saves saw the vehicle remain unharmed.

The Striking Scorpions fired at the Assassin, but failed to hit him. The Windriders fired at the Guardsmen in front of them, killing two of the squad, the survivors falling back under the onslaught. The Warp Spiders fired at the Lascannon weapons team. Despite going to ground, the unit killed the Commissar and two of the weapons teams. The lone surviving team passed their morale check.

In the assault phase, the Striking Scorpions charged the Assassin. For once, the swift Eldar found themselves against a faster opponent as the Assassin cut down three of the squad before they could strike. The Scorpions could not harm the lightning fast Assassin and they fled from combat and were easily cut down by the Culexus.

TURN 4- ASTRA MILITARUM

Seeing the tide of the battle turn, the Company Commander ordered his units to advance. The Infantry Squads from platoon 2 continued to move up, but were now joined by Infantry Squad 1A and both Chimeras, hoping to overwhelm the Eldar lines.

Once again, the Primaris Psyker's attempts to cast Prescience were blocked by the Eldar.

The Culexus fired at the Windriders, killing one of the unit. The nearby Guardsmen opened fire at the unit, but were unable to harm them.

The Lascannon team and Heavy Bolter weapons team opened fire on the Wraithknight, but failed to cause any harm.

Infantry Squad 1B opened fire on the Warp Spiders, killing one despite their flicker jump manoeuvres. The two Chimeras surged ahead towards the objective, forgoing their shooting to gain some distance.

In the assault phase, the Culexus Assassin assaulted the Windriders, but was cut down by overwatch fire before he could reach them.

TURN 5- ELDAR

The Warp Spiders moved up to target Infantry Squad 1B, while the Wraithknight advanced on the Veteran's Chimera. The Seer Council moved up to the Aegis line to support the Windriders.

In the psychic phase, the Farseer cast psychic shriek on the front unit of Guardsmen, but missed with the shot. The other Farseer cast Eldritch Storm on Infantry Squad 1A, killing 7 of the squad.

In the shooting phase, the Wraithknight fired at the Veteran's Chimera, taking a hull point and immobilising it. The Warp Spiders fired at Infantry Squad 1B, killing three of the squad.

The Wraithknight attempted to charge the Chimera, but failed to make the distance. The Warp Spiders assaulted Infantry Squad 1B, the swift Eldar slaying 5 of the guardsmen and losing one of their number in return. The Squad held firm, passing their morale check.

TURN 5- ASTRA MILITARUM

The Veterans disembarked from their immobile transport, moving to engage the Wraithknight. The other front Guard units moved towards the central objective, the second Chimera moving into position to claim it.

In the psychic phase, the Primaris managed to cast Prescience on the Heavy Bolter weapons team, then Forewarning on his own unit. The Eldar psykers obviously had other things on their minds.

In the shooting phase, Infantry Squad 1A fired at the Windriders, killing one of the jetbikers before they were ordered to run forward towards the objective. The Platoon Command's Chimera then targeted the last Windrider, slaying him.

The other infantry squads targeted the Seer Council and managed to slay the last of the Warlocks, leaving only the two Farseers in the unit.

The Company Command ordered the Heavy Weapons team to Bring Down the Wraithknight. The team managed an impressive 5 wounds with their heavy bolters, two of which got through the armour of the Knight, leaving it on one wound.

Seeing the creature falter, all the remaining guard poured their firepower into the Wraithknight. The lone Lascannon team and the Veteran's Chimera fired at it, but failed to cause any wounds. Finally, the Veterans fired on the Wraithknight. Their three meltaguns fired at the target, but only one hit. Armel and I both held our breaths as I rolled to wound. It came up a 4 and the Wraithknight was slain!

In the assault phase, the Warp Spiders finished off the squad they were locked in combat with and consolidated towards the objective in the Guard deployment zone.

TURN 6- ELDAR

The two Farseers moved up towards the central objective. In the psychic phase, one Farseer cast Psychic Shriek on the front Infantry Squad, hitting the unit and wiping them out. The other Farseer failed to cast Eldritch Storm, the unit then using their turbo-boost move to claim the objective in their own deployment zone.

The Warp Spiders fired on the Heavy Bolter team, wiping them out in retribution for the slaying of the Wraithknight.

TURN 6- ASTRA MILITARUM

The mobile Chimera moved forward, crashing through the Eldar's defence line to engage the Farseers. Infantry Squad 1A moved up to secure the objective in the centre.

In the shooting phase, the Chimera fired at the Farseers, killing one of them and taking the unit off of the objective. The rest of the army fired on the Warp Spiders, but were unable to harm them thanks to their flicker jump moves.

End of the Game.

We rolled to see if the game would continue and it did not. The Guard had seized victory this day and maintained the hold of their territory.

Victory Points:
Eldar- 2 (First Blood and Linebreaker)
Astra Militarum- 7 (2 Objectives and Linebreaker)

AFTER-BATTLE THOUGHTS
Mike:
Thanks to Armel for a hell of a game that could have gone either way at certain points. In the end, the massed ranks and firepower of the Guard helped secure the win.

The battle actually went pretty well for me. In Armel's first turn, he focused a lot of his firepower on the Assassin, wounding him twice. I'm sure he was trying to finish him off so that his Seer Council could get more involved. He also managed to take out one of the Wyverns with the Wraithknight. Overall, it was not as horrible as it could have been.

I have a very lucky first turn of shooting myself. One of the Wyverns was able to eliminate a unit of Windriders in one shot. The rest of the army focused on the Wraithknight, not that I thought it would do much good, but it was the only target in range of most of my guns. Surprisingly, I had some really good rolls and managed to reduce it to one wound in one turn of shooting.

This led Armel to use it much more conservatively in the follow turns until he could put some more wounds back on it with Renewer. This was great for me. If the Wraithknight had hit my lines, it would have caused chaos with its Stomp attacks, as there was very little I could do against it in combat. As it was, Armel held it back and allowed me to eventually deal with it in the shooting phase. It did not help that he rolled quite poorly for its shooting attacks for the Wraithcannons (as well as some great cover saves from me).

Armel was also very unfortunate when I shot at the Seer Council in turn 2. Some very poor 2+ armour saves saw a few warlocks die and the Dire Avengers and Spiritseer being slain. I was beginning to think that my curse of poor armour saves had been passed to Armel by the end of the game as he was routinely failing many of them as the turns went on.

I also have to point out that Armel completely forgot to take any Feel no Pain rolls with his Wraithknight and I forgot to remind him about these too (honestly!). I'm not sure if this would have turned the tide of the game, but at least his Wraithknight would probably have survived to cause more carnage.

Even though the Assassin did not do much, I still consider his inclusion a success. He did kill off the Striking Scorpions, but I think the fear of the Assassin kept the Seer Council back from my lines and stopped them causing too much devastation on the bulk of my army in the psychic phase- had he cast Eldritch Storm on my gunline, it may have caused carnage as many of my tightly packed units would have been hit by the massive 5" blast.
Thanks to the jetbikes of the Seer Council, there was very little chance of him getting into combat with them (or even into the 12" range to negate many of their abilities), but I think he kept them out of the game with his presence and helped bring about the win.

Speaking of psykers, that Seer Council was brutal. I know Eldar are great psykers, but that unit is insane. My lone Primaris was severely outclassed (though still managed to cast a few powers of his own). With 14 power dice before the die was even rolled, I knew they were going to get a lot of powers off each turn. The Ghosthelms also helped to keep them alive, as they were able to ignore the worst effects of perils each turn and could manifest their powers on a 3+ thanks to the formation's special rules. Without the Culexus, I think the game would have been very different.

Armel:
"It was a really fun and challenging battle, only the third game I'd ever faced Guard Astra Militarum, and....it certainly did not go as well as the last one had.

I am often lazy when it comes to army selection, and had decided to go for a pretty typical army for me: a Seer Council formation (love those guys), an aspect shrines formation (warp spiders, dire avengers and striking scorpions, +1BS is awesome) and a small CAD detachment, in this case one Spiritseer, one heavy Wraithcannon Wraithknight and two units of 3 Guardian jetbikes with 3 heavy weapons in total, which I stupidly chose to be shuriken cannons as opposed to the higher range, more shooty scatter lasers. Most of Mike's army spent the game in some form of cover, so AP5 definitely wasn't worth it.

The moment I saw Mike's army, I knew I was in trouble (a classic sentence in any post-game analysis where the person writing has lost the game). I had expected more tanks and fewer bodies and had definitely not counted on the Culexus Assassin. Most of my army was quite pricey, good at middle/close range, but fragile and useless at long range. Any losses would be felt heavily. The fact that we got short table edges and that there was a wide open area in the middle of the board also meant there was little I could do to try to get in close combat with the council.... although, actually, I probably should've tried boosting my armour to 2+ with Protect and then turbo-boosting the unit behind the Guard lines might have worked.

The rest was a series of blunders. While my unit of Warp Spiders, which deep struck in Mike's backfield, eventually did a lot of damage, I should have aimed to shoot to death the last Wyvern on the side armour the turn they arrived, instead of futilely wiping out a unit of Guardsmen with a single heavy weapon (he actually took out the missile launcher team on the turn they arrived- Mike). In retrospect, this would've been an almost certain kill (Mathhammer average of 7.63 glancing or penetrating hits from the Warp Spiders only, and the unit also included an Autarch with Fusion pistol). This combined with very clumsy positioning from my part cost me a lot of precious lives, as the Wyvern was able to target a unit of Dire Avengers and my Seer Council, who were having a free hugs party in cover.....

Other mistakes included charging the Culexus Assassin with a unit of striking scorpions, not realising they'd be hitting on 5's, the Mandiblasters failed to wound, the warriors who survived the Assassin's attacks did no damage, then they failed their morale check and were slaughtered.

While Mike did not like the Wraithknight's incredible durability (he had to remove 9 wounds to kill it since I had rolled Renewer), it was actually lower than it should've been had I not forgotten to roll for all but one of my Feel no Pain rolls! Also, my initial shock at Mike nearly killing him in the first turn of shooting made me keep it in cover for most of the game, when I probably should've charged through his army's centre: it would've been tar-pitted, but safer, and would've kept the guardsmen busy, disrupting his centre. In all events, it would've been more useful than just hugging cover and failing to kill vehicles.

In conclusion, it was a very fun game and I think it could've gone differently had I actually played my cards better. Mike was definitely the better player of the two, and I look forward to hopefully having a rematch soon against this worthy opponent."

Thanks to Armel for his kind and funny words and for taking the time to put together some after-battle thoughts. He warned me at the end of the game that the rematch would feature more Eldar tanks and a lot more large blasts.......