Hey guys back with another bat-rep! This time against my first 40k bud I made when moving down to North Carolina. Chris arrived with his new Dark Hunters army and they look great. This man loves his bikes and these White Scars successors looked very nice. This is one of the nastier lists I've been up against. How well will my Warhost Detachment do in its first game? Lets find out.
Setup: Standard deployment, The Relic, Dark Hunters have first turn.
The Lists:
Dark Hunters 2000pts
This list was a variety of formations of which I cannot remember all the details. They basically select certain units and get various bonuses for attacking them. They can also trigger certain responses from the targeted units as you'll see.
Kharn
Company Master- Bike, Power Weapon
2x Librarians on Bikes- 1x Force Axe, 1x Force Sword Forewarning, Perfect Timing, Precognition
1x Librarian- Terminator Armor- Perfect Timing
6x Bikers- Grav x2
6x Bikers- Grav x2
6x Bikers- Melta, Attack Bike- Multi-melta
6x Bikers- Melta, Attack Bike- Multi-melta
Landspeeders x2- Assault Cannons x2, Heavy Bolters x2
Imperial Knight- Gattling Gun, Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, Icarus Autocannons
Eldar Warhost Detachment
Autarch- Jetbike, Soulshrive, Banshee Mask
-Windrider Host-
Farseer- Jetbike, Guide, Fortune, Eldritch Storm, Mind War
Warlocks x3- Jetbikes, Conceal, Destructor, Embolden, Enliven (?)
3x Jetbikes- Scatters Lasers x3
3x Jetbikes- Scatters Lasers x3
3x Jetbikes- Scatters Lasers x3
Vyper- x2 Shuriken Cannons
-Aspect Host-
9x Dire Avengers- Exarch, Wave Serpent- Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon
5x Fire Dragons- Exarch, Wave Serpent- Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon
5x Dark Reapers- Exarch
-Aspect Host-
10x Scorpions- Exarch, Claw
5x Warp Spiders- Exarch
5x Warp Spiders- Exarch
-Hornet Swarm-
3x Hornets- 6x Pulse Lasers
Pre-Game Thoughts- I knew I was gonna be facing bikes but this list was crazy! Definitley thought I was in deep trouble. I was expecting a Knight as well but now that I saw it I was nervous. There wasn't too much cover, no Wraithknight, no Warp Hunter... it was gonna be up to my Aspect Warriors and some Psychic Support to do the job. I was very happy about my Pyschic Powers, but even with the buffs I was really worried about board control. I had to try and split his force somehow, or at least have a solid flanking attack with Scorpions, a unit of Spiders which would later be reinforced by my reserved Hornets, a unit of bikes and the Vyper. So I split my own force, castling everything up behind as much LOS blocking cover as possible. With the Scorpions and a unit of Spiders on the right, everything else on the left (as far away from the main host of bikes as possible). I knew he'd have to go near the Scorpions to get my main host... so if he diverted forces to deal with them and the Spiders that's fine. If he didn't I rip him up with monofilament and try and grab a few units in combat, while the rest of my force would blast away and then re-position as best they could.
Turn 1Dark Hunters- So turn 1 was probably one of the most intimidating first turns in terms of movement I've ever seen. Just look at the before and after photos. Almost everything was about 12" from my lines by the end of the turn. Yet instead of focusing on those units (Jetbikes, Dark Reapers, Warp Spiders) he targeted my HQ unit with all the bikers which were in range. Luckily the Meltas and Grav-Guns were ALL out of range... a big mistake. Yet despite that he put a wound on the Farseer and killed all the Warlocks. Damn! I was really looking forward to trying out those psychic powers. Oh well.... The Imperial Knight also landed two hits with his Battle-Cannon putting wounds on all the Jetbikes, all the Warp Spiders and all the Dark Reapers. However after all that I only lost a single Dark Reaper and a single Spider. Whew! Got lucky there! My work was now cut out for me... never had this many units up in my face so soon. I knew I had to do some crazy stuff to avoid close-combat which would be the death of my army. Screening and target priority would be huge.
Eldar- So I felt very happy with my deployment after surviving that first turn. I hid the best I could and got above average rolls on my cover saves enabling me to make a solid riposte. However Warlord was very much in jeopardy as I was forced to move towards the enemy with my Autarch+Farseer after taking those unsaved wounds on the Warlocks. Oh well I knew I had to go out and try and hold the line regardless. Time to put that Soulshrive to work! But first... In movement I deployed the Avengers (who I Guided), moved them out to make a screen to block the Hunters from potentially charging my Reapers and Bikes. The Autarch+Farseer got Fortuned. I moved the Spiders on the left to deal with the left most bikers. I began moving the with the Dragons up towards the Knight, but with the intent of still laying down support fire as I planned on a turn 3 move against the Knight.
Meanwhile moved out the Scorpions and Spiders on the right flew out of cover towards a unit of Scout Bikers and a normal Bike Squad. This was a tricky spot however... as the Scouts were shielding the big boy Bikers from an assault from the Scorpions... so I'll begin narrating shooting here. I made the risky choice to use the Spiders to clear the 3x Scout Bikers which they did, clearing the path for a 7" charge for the Spiders.
Then... incredibley... the Avenger unloaded 18 shots into a unit of bikes and wiped them out! Insane! 6 Bladestorms rolls and he chose not to jink. Oh my beloved Avengers you always do me justice! Then the Dragon's Serpent tore up another unit which was then wiped out by the Spiders, while the Reapers destroyed another unit of bikes. Wowzers... this was total carnage. My 2x3 Jetbikes then reduced another squad to a Librarian and another single model, and the command squad on bikes to 3 dudes, Librarian, Khan and the Company Master. This was incredible! Yet the slaughter didn't end here. Assault time and my trusty Scorpions made their charge and the Exarch slaughtered the whole unit! Insane! The Autarch and Farseer also chipped in killing a lone biker while the Librarian survived. Wow... probably one the best turns my army has ever had. Legendary! I then battle-focused, jetbiked and jetpacked everything into cover. Wow what a turn.
Turn 2Dark Hunters- Well the Dark Hunters had made a huge mistake. All their big guns were out of range and the Knight had only done incidental damage. He probably rushed to far forward, and instead of focusing on my Bikes and Aspect Warriors he went after my HQ who is a middling support unit at best. They paid the price and their force was in tatters. However they would still seek revenge in this turn. All the surviving units unloaded on my HQ, dropping them after a lot of shots. Then the Scorpions who were out in the open got blasted by the Knight. I was making crazy go-to-ground cover saves (+ stealth) and it took till nearly the last roll to remove the Exarch. While the follow pic was meant to show the removal of the Autarch, it really shows how little was left for the Dark Hunters.
Before...
After...
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Wrap-Up- We went on to go 3 full turns but called it after that. I felt bad for my buddy Chris. That was a brutal turn 1 riposte by the Eldar. But his whole army was right in my wheel house, with all his big guns out of range. He also made a huge mistake in targetting my HQ unit, when he could have gone after tons of other juicy targets. He also made a huge mistake by not jinking especially with Skilled Rider against the Guided Avengers which would have totally changed the game (but Jinking is for Eldar, as he said).
I specifically brought this army to be a toned down force, but Chris felt it was a "power list" nonetheless. I disagreed quite strongly... no Wraithknight, no Warp Hunter, only a couple units of Spiders and only 3x Jetbikes. Those units weren't even the heavy lifters. It was the Avengers, Serpents, Scorpions and Reapers which did all the work. Oh well it was still a great win for my Eldar and I enjoyed playing despite the relative shortness of the game.
Anyway guys thats all I got for now. Hope you enjoyed the bat-rep. Stay tuned I'll have some hobby stuff to share shortly. See you soon.