Hey guys. Well the unexpected happened and some new people were looking to play 40k at my store yesterday! So I took them up on the chance and was very glad I did... because we played a unique scenario and got the chance to play against
SLAANESH and Colonel Shaffer's Last Chancers (using 4th ed. rules and all).
My opponents were a very nice couple and they had all fully painted models. I can't tell you how excited I was to finally play against Slaanesh and there were plenty of truly awesome moments in the game as well.
So the scenario was simple. The Eldar Corsairs were raiding a world and discovered a Slaanesh force stalking through the ruins of an Imperial World (represented by Crusade) while Colonel Shaffer and his Last Chancers were searching for an Imperial Guard Command Squad. Hidden on the battlefield the Imperial Guard Command Squad was represented by a token, when within 6" of the token the Squad would be placed on the board and would then be eligble to be attacked. The goal of the Last Chancers from escorting the Command Squad off the board, while killing the Priest, Commissar or Commander granted bonus victory points. This was played into a campaign between the couple and made for some very enjoyable moments during the game.
Forces of SlaaneshNotes-So on to the game! The Daemon force was not at all optimized and was simply made for the enjoyment Ashleigh and fun thematic games but they looked very nice.
Daemon Prince- Wings, some artifacts
Daemon Prince- bunch of artifacts
Chaos Lord- Terminator Armor, Relics
Seekers of Slaanesh- Heartseeker, Insturment of Chaos
Daemonettes- Aluress, Insturment of Chaos
Noise Marines- Sonic Blasters, 1x Blaster Master, Icon of Excess
Raptors x10- Aspiring Champion- Power Fist
Chaos Space Marines- Icon of Excess
Hellbrute- Lascannon, Thunderhammer
Eldar CorsairsNotes- Not knowing the armies, or level of competitiveness of the force beforehand I brought what I thought was a "middle of the road" list. Good punch with my Jetbikes and Wraithknight, but also under-rated units such as Scorpions, Wraithblades and footbased HQ's. If I had known I was playing Daemons of Slaanesh I would have dropped the Wraithknight in favor of the Avatar but that'll have to be saved for the re-match.
Autarch- Banshee Mask, Firesabre
Spirit Seer (Telepathy: Psychic Shriek, Mental Fortitude, Hallucination)
Wraithblades x5- Axes
Striking Scorpions x9- Exarch, Claw
Dire Avengers x8
Wave Serpent- Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon
Jetbikes x3- Scatter Lasers x3
Jetbikes x3- Scatter Lasers x3
Jetbikes x3- Scatter Lasers x3
Hornets x2- Pulse Lasers
Nightwing
Wraithknight- Distorion Cannons, Scatter Laser
Apologies for not taking a photo of the board set-up. But basically we each had a bunch of LOS blocking terrain in our deployment zones, with some big rocky outcroppings in the middle to provide cover. So I won the roll to deploy and go first (which I did) so lets go on to...
Turn 1 Eldar- So tucked my Scorpions, a squad of Jetbikes and Wraitblades into a ruin on the left hand-side supported by a Wave Serpent which were opposite the Seekers of Slaansh, the Noise Marines, and near to the token where the Command Squad was hidden.
Central was the Wraithknight, with my Warp Spiders (which I forgot to bring and had to proxy
) 2 squads of Jetbikes and my Hornets opposite the Chaos Space Marines, their Lord the Hellbrute but also within striking distance of the Winged Daemon Prince.
So I kept my Scorpions back, but ran up with my Wraithguard and after a little of shuffling with my Jetbikes, just to peek out of LOS (not that it mattered with her total lack of fire beyond 24") I unleashed in the shooting phase. I completley wiffed with the Wraithknight! Which was really funny because an observing played called ones on each roll. It was really a laugh and I was glad the big man wasn't demolishing things turn 1, cause the Jetbikes ended up downing the Winged Prince who while in cover, could have been in LOS blocking terrain. An easy mistake to make for someone relatively new to the game. But boy what a kill for my Jetbikes. Battle honors time! Also shot-up the Seekers of Slaanesh killing 3 of them despite Feel No Pain and 4+ cover. The Warp Spiders began their long trek to the right side of the board where most of the Daemon force was located. So I grabbed 1st Blood and Warlord on turn 1. Very nice for the Eldar, but more important was the fact that my Jetbikes killed a Daemon Prince of Slaanesh! It was very exciting and something I won't forget.
Imperial Guard- Meanwhile Colonel Shaffer also showed up on the board. Each guy was an Independent Character so shooting them off the board would be a huge drain of fire being able to shoot only a single model at a time. If they reach the Command Squad there was a Master of Ordnance in there which certainly concerned me influencing turn 2...
Slaanesh- So while the loss of the Prince was certainly significant, much of the force was still intact. The Chaos Marines and their lord moved forward to camp on an objective. The Striders of Slaanesh boldly ran from cover-to-cover despite the bristling guns to try and get into assault. The Raptors jumped out to a central position behind a huge piece of cover. The Hellbrute turned and fired on the Wraithknight knocking up a wound, while the Noise Marines positioned themselves in a ruin to try and get a target.
Turn 2 EldarSo with Colonel Shaffer and all the crazy hijinks his squad is capable of I decided I couldn't let him achieve his mission. Furthermore they stood between me and the biggest chunk of Slaanesh forces and therefore needed to be removed for their foolishness! So my Scorpions jumped out of cover with the Wraithblades, my Corsair Prince and his Void Dreamer trailing just behind them. My jetbikes on the right flank shot-up the Seekers of Slaansh reducing them to just 2 models, while the Wave Serpent fired into the Noise Marines to little effect. The Hornets ended up blowing up the Hellbrute on the right flank, while one squad of Jetbikes killed 2 Space Marines also on the right flank and my 3rd unit of Jetbikes killed 5! Raptors which were in the dead center of the board.
My Scorpions had moved within 6" of the hidden Command Squad and were able to assault them making for a really awesome moment. So the Scorpions charged and wiped out a bunch of guys with Hammer of Wrath. My Exarch challenged the Company Commander and beheaded him with a whopping 5 high strength AP 2 attacks! These were the 1st kills for my Scorpions and it was great that I was issuing challenges and the whole nine-yards. However what made it even more fun was the Commissar in the squad passed all his Invuln. Saves and killed two Striking Scorpions in return and amazingly he passed his Leadership test and held... with Striders of Slaanesh closing in...
Imperial GuardEnraged at the loss of his rescue target Colonel Shaffer and his men unleashed on the Scorpions killing 3 of them reducing the squad to just 4. The rest fanned out to make a screen blocking the Wraithblades from rescuing them. While not dishing out a ton of damage they were certainly disrupting things making life difficult for the Eldar and setting up the forces of Slaanesh for an assault.
Slaanesh So Ashleigh failed to bring in her Daemonnetes via Deepstrike, but one of her Daemon Princes did arrive and dropped down right amidst Colonel Shaffer's men making a charge difficult for my Wraithblades. The Seekers moved out to nab the Scorpions in combat, while meanwhile Raptors also moved out towards the Scorpions using only a 6" move so they could re-roll assault distances.
So onto the main event! The Seekers charged into the Scorpions, and the Raptors made an amazing 12" charge on the re-roll! Here we go this is what 40k is all about. So the Heart Seeker challenges the Exarch and I accept. The Alluress goes first (I think) but the Scorpions armor protects him. In furious retaliation the Exarch nails Heart Seeker all 3 times and she fails to of her saves and is slain! Oh what glory for my Exarch! The other Scorpions kill the other Seeker but are also felled as they are going simultaneously. Yet the fight is not over, the Raptors come hurtling in the Aspiring Champion slams my Exarch with his powerfist felling him. Oh if only he could have survived that attack, but slaying both the Company Commander and the Heartseeker is truly legendary. I couldn't have been happier and it really was a very memorable moment.
Further HighlightsSadly the rest of the game was largely mop-up action. Without any long range fire to speak of, the forces of Slaanesh were being torn up at range without any real ability to damage of any sort. My Warp Spiders made it all the way across the board and tore up the majority of Colonel Shaffer's unit (including Shaffer himself) while my Corsair Prince and his retinue made it into glorious combat with the other Daemon Prince reducing him to a single wound before we called the game. I desperately wanted to kill that Daemon Prince for the sake of glory but with the game in hand thought it was best to call the game before any feelings could be soured.
Concluding ThoughtsThis was a great fun game. I wish it could've been a more even contest but units were destroyed on boths sides and some very memorable combats took place that I will not soon forget. This was really one of my most enjoyable game. As soon as I realized Slaanesh was hitting the table I felt my Eldar pride go into over-drive. I would fully embrace the fluff on this one, throwing my Corsair Prince and his close-combat units head on into the action, issuing challenges and taking no prisoners.
I have plans to play Ashleigh's fiance in a Guard vs. Eldar game sometime in the future, and also play Ashleigh again this time bringing the all-mighty Avatar for a truly epic clash.
Anyway guys hope you enjoyed the bat-rep though it was a short one (as my games always tend to be win, lose or draw). Stay-tuned as always, I've got a ton of terrain updates headed your way from some great 3rd party model makers. My board is going to look far better next time you see it. Thanks for stopping by and happy wargaming.