Hey guys! Back with another bat-rep! This is my first go with the new Codex so lets dive right it in.
Just to let you guys know I did goof up on my list a bit. I accidentally included a unit of Storm Guardians but left out a Warlock. I basically got 2 of my lists mixed up in my head when I was taking all my units out and setting them for the game earlier in the day and planned on using one list, but changed my mind at the last second... So anyway the actual list was 1979 points, so forgetting the Warlock but adding the Stormies brought me 22 points over. Really kicking myself for that... so hope it doesnt ruin it for you guys.
Alright so here's my list
Eldar 2022pts-Iyanden Battalion-
Prince Y'riel
Warlock- Protect
Guardians x10
Guardians x10
Guardians x10
Storm Guardians x10- 2x Flamers
Wraithguard x5- Cannons
Wave Serpent- 3x Cannons
Wraithguard x5- Scythes
-Alaitoc Battalion-
Illic Nightspear
Warlock- Conceal
Warlock- Quicken
Rangers x5
Rangers x5
Rangers x5
Scorpions x10- Claw
Hornet- Bright Lances x2
Hornet- Bright Lances x2
Dark Reapers x5
Dark Reapers x5
Imperial Guard 2000ptsPask- Punisher- Lascannon, Plasma Cannons
Leman Russ Tank Commander- Lascannon, Plasma Cannons
Leman Russ- Lascannon, Heavy Bolters
Leman Russ Punisher- Lascannon, Heavy Bolters
Leman Russ Demolisher- Lascannon, Heavy Bolters
Wyvern
Wyvern
Basilisk
Manticore
Death Strike
Death Strike
Primaris Psykers
Primaris Psykers
Primaris Psykers
Primaris Psykers
Primaris Psykers
Primaris Psykers
NOTESSo... I was not expecting a tank army and thought I was in trouble from the get go... but I came up with a cunning plan right off the hop. So lets dive into it!
DEPLOYMENTWe played the Relic (lucky for me!) with classic Dawn of War deployment. Imperial Guard was going first and I failed to seize. Lets begin!
I put my Scorpions, the Warlock with the Shroud Shift and 2 units of Ranger into reserves and I opted to webway in a unit of Wraithguard with cannons and a unit of Guardians.
I also used Phantasm to shift a unit of Rangers + Illic off the top story of the ruin because they were blocking the Reapers who would need that perch later in the game.
IMG_7333 by
Eldar Cavalier, on Flickr
IMG_7334 by
Eldar Cavalier, on Flickr
TURN 1Imperial Guard- So Mike rumbled forward to try and surround the Relic. The intial focus came on my Hornets. One of them was destroyed though at considerable effort due to Alaitoc rules. Also one unit of Rangers was reduced down to a single man. A few wounds were put on my Wave Serpent. The Storm Guardians got picked on by the Basilisk and were reduced to 4 guys. But that was it! Those Alaitoc rules + use of some LOS blocking terrain mitigated what could have been a devastating alpha strike. Also of note I denied a bunch of psychic powers which was cool. I usually dont use psykers so that was nice!
Eldar- So my Guardians hurtled forward towards the Relic. I rolled excellent advance rolls for all of them. Prince Y'riel, his Warlock adviser and his Wraithguard deployed from their Serpent and the Wraithguard advanced. The Reapers who had been out of LOS moved into shooting position on their perch. Then via shadows and webway portals the Scorpions + the Warlock with the Shroudshift and Quicken dropped in on the back line near a cluster of Wyverns and a Deathstrike tucked into the far left corner. Meanwhile the Guardians dropped into the middle of the board near the Relic with the Cannon Wraithguard in support. Also the two units of Rangers dropped in, one from the Relic, one right out in the open so I could take shots at a Primaris Psyker.
In the psychic phase I managed to get quicken off on the Scorpions (yes!), I concealed the Reapers, Rangers, Wraithguard and Y'riel, granting the Reapers a -2 to hit and Y'riel and the Wraithguard -1 (though I'm realizing I forgot that next turn as I type). The Warlock with protect failed to get his power off though. I then began the shooting phase. The Wraithguard with Scythes racked up about 9 wounds on a standard Russ, while the Reapers inflicted similar damage on the Demolisher. Meanwhile the Wraithguard unloaded on one of the Punishers nearly felling it. The Guardians actually chipped in here and there with shuriken fire inflicting a few wounds here and there as well.
Then came the Assault Phase. The Wave Serpent went and plowed into 2 of the Leman Russ taking 5 wounds on overwatch from a lucky Lascannon shot, which allowed Prince Y'riel to do his thing! Y'riel went right into the Demolisher and destroyed it. It blew sky high, killed a Wraithguard, put 2 wounds on himself and a wound on the Serpent. Bit of blowback on the Assault Phase but I was fine with it. The 4 remaining Storm Guardians went into the Punisher, lost 2 of their number but made contact and inflicted a wound! Unbelievable! Then the Scorpions went into the cluster of artillery in the back, contacting 2 of the Wyverns. They actually inflicted a fair amount of damage between the claw strikes and mandiblasters. Go Scorpions! So a VERY involved turn... the longest of the game, but the Eldar did very good. I had a bunch of the tanks locked in combat and a number of tanks ready to croak. I was very satisfied.
IMG_7346 by
Eldar Cavalier, on Flickr
IMG_7350 by
Eldar Cavalier, on Flickr
TURN 2Imperial Guard- So Mike was forced to pull back with about 6 of his tanks all told which was great for me. Smites went off left and right, Pask and his buddies pounded the Wraithguard killing all but one of the Wraithguard in each squad, and took out 6 Guardian defenders but that was it! The artillery couldn't touch my Reapers, whiffed on my Rangers and lone Hornet.
Eldar- I was in great position with 3 units nearly ontop of the Relic and the Rangers standing by to grab it if they faltered. Man am I feeling the new Eldar dex! It really allows you to be very unpredictable and strike from a ton of different angles. Plus the psychic powers give you versatility instead of just re-rolls. I was loving it! So anyway onto the turn. The Reapers, lone D-Scythe Wraithguard and Prince Y'riel's plasma grenade critically wounded Pask and his nearby buddy bringing them down to about 4 wounds each. The last remaining Wraithguard leveled his cannon and blew up the Punisher and the Guardians grabbed the Relic and started hauling it back to the ruins where Illic was awaiting it. Speaking of Illic he blew away a Primaris Psyker threatening the Warlock who had deepstruck with the Scorpions. Then came the assault phase... the Scorpions had formed a broad line and declared a charge against a single Wyvern, but ended up going in against 2 Wyverns and the Deathstrike. They inflicted a number of mortal wounds across the board. Also going in with them were a unit of Rangers and together they formed a blockade around the entire formation of tanks. They would remain locked up for the remainder of the game! Then my last remaining Wraithguard went in two Pask and his wingman tying them up and surviving overwatch. In went Y'riel after him but due to to model placement he could only target Pask's wingman but managed to kill him. He is SO deadly against just about anything. The Wraithguard with cannon went in against the Leman Russ tank commander, survived overwatch and tied that tank up as well. One of my Guardian squads went in after him just to make his life miserable and get into a better position to keep harassing if need be. Another very solid turn for the Eldar. I had either removed or silenced all 5 Leman Russ, both the Wyverns and one of the Deathstrikes, with only a Basilisk, Manticore and Deathstrike remaining free to act. As you can imagine it was pretty much game over at this point, so I'll give a quick summary and wrap things up.
IMG_7355 by
Eldar Cavalier, on Flickr
IMG_7353 by
Eldar Cavalier, on Flickr
IMG_7349 by
Eldar Cavalier, on Flickr
SUMMARY AND CLOSING THOUGHTSSo the game ended up going to the top of 5 with Y'riel managing to kill Pask while the Reapers and remaining Wraithguard killed the tank commander and the Manticore. The Scorpions actually killed one of the Wyverns and just kept that whole wing of artillery locked up till the end of the game. The Guardians meanwhile dragged the Relic over to Illic Nightspear who took it with his handy -2 to hit, while the Guardians and Rangers formed a screen preventing anyone from targetting him. Y'riel ended up dying in the end due to some unlucky rolls in combat against a Primaris Psyker but he did more than make up for his points finishing off three wounded Leman Russ in combat.
I was very impressed by the performance of my army in this game. While the Eldar aren't blowing people off the board like they did last edition, they take savage hacks out of opposing armies and are just coming at you from all angles, both in deployment but also in terms of offense. I didn't really hit on it too much, but units like the Scorpions and Guardians really impressed me. They were chipping off wounds here and there on tanks with their shuriken weaponry and especially the Mandiblasters which must have inflicted around 10 wounds over 3 turns of combat. Also battle-focus with the Guardians was absolutely huge.
My 2 biggest take aways Eldar rule during deployment. If you take advantage of units like Scorpions, Rangers (or Hawks and Spiders) and sprinkle in items like the Shroudshift, Phantasm and some Webway action you can respond with incredible precision even when forced into mismatches like Guardians and Scorpions vs tanks.
The Alaitoc rules were also phenomenal. Conceal on Alaitoc Dark Reapers is VERY good. Not game breaking by any stretch but it gives you a well protected firebase against artillery and the like. As players get used to it, expect deepstrikers to come in after them, but if you screen them you'll have a powerful firebase that can pummel the toughest tanks and infantry.
But number one has to be the Eldar trickery during deployment. That is going to carry this army during the entire edition, mark my words!
Anyway guys hope you enjoyed. Sorry for the screw up on my points! I felt terrible about it but hope you enjoyed the bat-rep anyway. I'm gonna get in another game soon against Mike... this time against his character heavy, conscript spam again. So stay tuned and talk soon!
IMG_7352 by
Eldar Cavalier, on Flickr