News: No news is good news...

Login  |  Register

Author Topic: 2,000 pts Ulthwé vs Adeptus Mechanicus - Eternal War Mission 1, Retrieval  (Read 1917 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Blazinghand

  • Warlock | Master of the Ravenwing
  • Lazerous Penguin
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1249
  • Country: us
  • Die for the Emperor or die trying!
  • Armies: Eldar, Orks
I played a close-fought game with my friend ph34ry and his Adeptus Mechanicus. We played Eternal War Mission 1 from the BRB, Retrieval, a 4-objective game. Since we are practicing for an upcoming tournament, we both brought our competitive lists. I fielded my old tournament list from the last tournament without any updates, and ph34ry brought an impressive list with a super-heavy, many IG units, and an Admech detachment.


Army Lists


Blazinghand’s List - Ulthwé


BATTALION
+HQ+
Eldrad Ulthran
Autarch on foot with Star Glaive, Relic: Faolchu's Wing (WARLORD: Fate Reader)
+Troops+
5 Dire Avengers, 1 is Exarch with 2 Avenger Shuriken Catapults
5 Dire Avengers, 1 is Exarch with 2 Avenger Shuriken Catapults
5 Rangers

VANGUARD
+HQ+
Warlock
+Elites+
5 Fire Dragons, 1 is Exarch with Dragon’s Breath Flamer
5 Fire Dragons, 1 is Exarch with Dragon’s Breath Flamer
5 Wraithguard with D-Scythes
5 Wraithguard with D-Scythes
8 Wraithguard with Wraithcannons
+Dedicated Transport+
Wave Serpent with Twin Shuriken Cannons, Shuriken Cannon
Wave Serpent with Twin Shuriken Cannons, Shuriken Cannon
Wave Serpent with Twin Shuriken Cannons, Shuriken Cannon
Wave Serpent with Twin Shuriken Cannons, Shuriken Cannon




ph34ry's List - Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial guard

SPEARHEAD of Mars Admech
+HQ+
Beliarius Cawl
+Troops+
5 Skitarii Rangers
+Heavy Support+
4 Kastellan Robots, each with 3 Heavy Phosphor Blasters
Onager Dunecrawler with Neutron Laser
Onager Dunecrawler with Neutron Laser

BATTALION of Cadian Imperial Guard
+HQ+
Company Commander with Kurov's Aquila (WARLORD: Grand Strategist)
Primaris Psyker
+Troops+
Infantry Squad, 1 has Plasma Gun
Infantry Squad, 1 has Plasma Gun
Infantry Squad, 1 has Plasma Gun
+Heavy Support+
Basilisk
Basilisk
Leman Russ Battle Tank

SUPER-HEAVY AUXILIARY SUPPORT of Imperial Guard
+Lord of War+
Shadowsword



--

Pre-Game

Objectives were placed in each the center of each corner. For deployment, we got table quarters. ph34ry kept his gunline pressed against the back of his quarter, with his infantry in front to slow down my advance. I deployed my Wave Serpents up against the front of my deployment zone. Wraithguard with Wraithcannons go in the webway. I lost the roll to go first, but seized the initiative.


Top of Turn 1 (Ulthwé)

My Wave Serpents race across the board, dropping off Dire Avengers and a Warlock beforehand. Wraithguard come in from reserve, but aren't in range to shoot their Wraithcannons at vehicles. Warlock flubs a Quicken, even with a Command Re-Roll, so they unfortunately can't get in range to do much.



Wave Serpents and Dire Avengers blow away the 3 infantry squads, and a Wave Serpent sticks a charge on the now-exposed Primaris Psyker. This won't do much, but it gets the Serpent closer to the enemy, and if it dies it can drop its contents into the ruins where they will get cover.




Bottom of Turn 1 (Admech)

The Primaris Psyker uses Fall Back, and shooting begins. A torrent of fire from the Robots, the IG vehicles, and the Onagers pours into my units. Even Cawl runs forward to take a couple pot-shots. My center two Wave Serpents are destroyed, as well as 9 of the 10 Wraithguard that were within them. 5 Wraithguard from the deep striking squad are cleared out, and a few Dire Avengers from each squad die as well. All in all, about 1,000 pts of my army was killed in shooting this turn.




Top of Turn 2 (Ulthwé)

I have to make this turn count. Fire Dragons hop out of the Wave Serpents. Wave Serpents move into positions to charge various artillery units. Wraithguard, Dire Avengers, and my HQs move into position. A well-placed Quicken on a squad of 5 Dire Dragons brings them close enough to Cawl they can shoot at him. Doom whiffs, but Smite and Guide help out.



3 of the Kastelan Robots are dusted by Fire Dragons, and some wounds are put on the LRBT and Onager. Cawl manages to survive the squad of Fire Dragons shooting at him, so I need to take more direct action. Since he regenerates wounds and increases the damage output of Admech units, he cannot be allowed to live.



My Autarch charges in, rolling high. He flies over Cawl and comes in behind for assault. My Wave Serpents charge gunline elements to slow down or stop their shooting. Wraithguard stick a charge on the Onager. Get 'em, boys! Every unit charged is a unit not shooting next turn!






Amidst all this desperation in assault, a beacon of hope: the Autarch's Star Glaive attacks have brought down Belisarius Cawl!



Autarch Kill Count: 1


Bottom of Turn 2 (Admech)

ph34ry is in a bad spot. most of his units can't shoot this turn, and he considers resigning, despite having more value on the table. After some persuasion, he continues the game. His units in assault fall back, and what's able to shoot does so. The Shadowsword shoots one Wave Serpent, destroying it, then charges the other with Crush Them! and destroys it as well. Shots from his Robot weaken the Dire Avengers and together with his Basilisk in the back destroy one unit of Fire Dragons.



The Primaris Psyker charges in on the Autarch, hoping to take him down with some Force Stave hits. The Autarch avoids all damage and dispatches the mon-keigh psyker with elegant use of the Star Glaive.

Autarch Kill Count: 2


Top of Turn 3 (Ulthwé)

Without my Serpents to tie things up in assault, things are looking very dicey. I still have a unit of Rangers camping one of my objectives in the back, and I took First Blood, but if ph34ry can cap 2 objectives or if I get tabled, I lose. I need to keep my few units alive if at all possible.

I smite and shoot down his LRBT, and charge my units in. His Basilisk can't back up due to space constraints, so I charge my Autarch into safety with the Basilisk. One Onager is up against a box, so I charge to allow pile-in to surround it and lock it into assault with my other units, reducing his ability to shoot what I have left. One Dire Avenger slides around to ph34ry's final infantry unit, and chucks a grenade at it, killing 2. It charges the final one. Eldrad and one Wraithguard fail their charge rolls and are left behind.



After pile-in, almost all my army is locked in assault. Aside from the Autarch putting some hurt on the Basilisk, little happens.





Bottom of Turn 3 (Admech)

Admech's guns mostly don't have good targets, but Eldrad who failed the charge is destroyed by the Shadowsword and Basilisk. The Onager that is able to do so falls back out of assault. The Shadowsword charges with Crush Them! going for the units locked in assault with the remaining Onager.



The Wraithguard, the Warlock, and one heroic Fire Dragon survive the Shadowsword's onslaught. The Autarch, who is now heavily wounded by his battles, finishes off the Basilisk.



Autarch Kill Count: 3


Top of Turn 4 (Ulthwé)

My units in assault stay in assault, since they are relatively safe from the big guns like the Shadowsword's gun there. The Autarch charges the Company Commander in the back corner, contemptuously destroying him, and piling into the Basilisk to inhibit its shooting for the turn. The last Fire Dragon dies to the Shadowsword.

Autarch Kill Count: 4


Bottom of Turn 4 (Admech)

Admech kills the last D-Scythe Wraithguard and 3 of my backfield rangers. I retain the Autarch, 1 Dire Avenger, 2 Wraithcannon Wraithguard, 1 Warlock, and 2 Backfield rangers against his Shadowsword, Basilisk, and 2 Onager Dunecrawlers.




Top of Turn 5 (Ulthwé)

I'm still way behind in terms of amount of army on the board. The only way I win is if the game ends this turn, so I plan for that. My 2 Wraithguard Fall Back out of assault, physically interposing themselves between an Onager that was sneaking around and an objective. Now, ph34ry will hold at most one objective. My Rangers are on one objective in my backfield. I have First Blood and Slay The Warlord, so I will win basically unless I am shot off the board entirely. Even if I lose the Rangers, my one Warlock may be enough to contest his objective, which would also allow me to win on secondaries.

Sadly, my Hero Autarch dies to the Basilisk on overwatch, and does the intrepid dire Avenger.




Bottom of Turn 5 (Admech)

During the Admech shooting phase, I lose my Rangers, and he is able to get two vehicles onto his own objective, enough to decisively claim it. I concede the game.


Result: Defeat!


--

Post-Game Thoughts

Overall, I think I did a good job of disrupting the gunline with charges, even after losing half my army on Turn 1.

The Autarch was quite the effective combatant! He finished off Cawl, then killed a Primaris Psyker, a Company Commander, and a Basilisk single-handedly. His Faolchu's Wing relic allowed him to move into position to kill many things, and he easily earned his points back. I'll try to make better use of him in future games. He won't kill Mortarion or anything, but 4 power fist attacks is hard for anything to shrug off.

My lack of Turn 1 anti-tank meant I wasn't able to deal with big threats like the Neutron Onagers or the Kastelan Robots. Failing the Quicken on the Wraithguard was pretty rough, especially since I burned a re-roll on it. I should have hopped Eldrad out as well and used Seer Council, because that Quicken was absolutely crucial. Something to bear in mind for future games. This also makes me more sure I need some kind of ranged anti-tank, like a Crimson Hunter.

I felt like I had adequate firepower to take out the screen.

Despite my pretty heavy anti-tank presence (10 Fire Dragons, 8 Wraithguard, and (sorta anti-tank) 10 D-Scythe Wraithguard) I felt like I ran out of anti-tank steam partway through the game. I suppose that's the premise of this admech list, mass AV. Also, half of my army died without being able to shoot, which probably contributes.

I never had an answer to the Shadowsword, but this was more an issue with not mitigating that turn 1 alpha strike. Perhaps Vectored Engines on the Wave Serpents would be the best choice, especially since they are juicy targets before they let their contents out.

Eldrad somewhat underperformed in this game, whiffing two dooms even with me feeding in a Smite to get that +1 first. Warlock only made 3 of his 5 Quickens, which is pretty average. Perhaps I should invest some points into the Seer Council stratagem next time.

Eternal War missions feel a lot less tactical than ITC missions, including ones I have played at tourneys. In an ITC mission, you can still get tabled, of course, but because everyone is playing for points and scoring is progressive, there's much more moving around and such. I'd say ITC Missions > Maelstrom > Eternal War in terms of how fun they are to play and variety of experiences in them.

Thanks for reading!
« Last Edit: January 21, 2018, 06:39:31 AM by Blazinghand »
Quote from: Howard Zinn
There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.

Offline SeekingOne

  • Exarch
  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1509
  • Country: ru
  • May Hoeth guide our ways...
  • Armies: Eldar (Saim-Hann), Space Wolves
It's a very late comment I know, but still - good game and really good report! Studying it was both interesting and very educative. Thank you!

I like to quote a great chess player of old José Raúl Capablanca, who used to say that a single game you lose teaches you more than a hundred games you win! This is just that sort of game ;)
« Last Edit: March 28, 2018, 08:34:56 AM by SeekingOne »
I fight against Chaos and for Order, because it means fighting for Life against Death. There is no other battle truly worth fighting.

"If it's not for a tournament then play whatever it is that you like. Without the pressure of having to utterly destroy your opponent it opens up alot more opportunity to have fun." - Lazarus

 


Powered by EzPortal