With this in mind I wanted to test out 2 eldar lists, one mech and one primarily foot.
Here is what I ran for the first match:
- Farseer with Runes of Witnessing
- 10 Guardians
Wave Serpent with TL Bright Lances, Holofields
- 10 Guardians w/scatter Laser platform
- 5 Dire Avengers
Wave Serpent with TL Scatter Lasers, Holofields
- 6 Warp Spiders
- Falcon with Pulse Laser/Scatter Laser, Holofields
- Aegis Line with LasCannon
Hyv3 brought (roughly)
- Spirit Seer
- 5 Wraith Guards
- Wave Serpent w/Scatter Lasers
- 3 Jet Bikes w/Shuriken Cannon
- 3 Jet Bikes w/Shuriken Cannon
- 3 War Walkers with 2 Scatter Lasers each
- Wraith Knight w/ 2 Cannons
- 2 Vaul Support Cannons with Shadow Weaver
We setup a 4x4 board and decided on placing terrain by rolling for each quarter. After terrain is placed I win roll off for deployment and first turn.
Mission: Purge the Alien
Deployment: Hammer and Anvil but since we were on a 4x4 it did not really matter.
Warlord Traits:
Hyv3 rolled: Mark of Incomparable Hunter (warlord has split fire)
I rolled: Eye on Distant Events (Warlord and units within 12" have stealth)
Psychic Powers:
I get Guide, Executioner, and Eldritch Storm
Hyv3 gets conceal and I think enhance
Pre Game thoughts: Grubnards
With having won 1st deployment and first turn I felt pretty confident that I could dictate the opening moves of the game. I had plenty of Str 8 and Str 6 weapons on the board, which could easily mess up his units. Target priority would have to be those war walkers as they could throw out an insane amount of Str6 damage. This was my first game against the Wraith Knight so I was intimidated by seeing that lined up against me but as most of my units were mobile enough I figured I could keep it at bay unit I was able to deal with the bigger threats.
We roll for night fight and there is no night fight.
The lights within the seer dome slowly came back on, illuminating the area in a soft, warm glow yet Farseer Iliquip could not shake the chills he felt. He had spent the last 12 days communing with the spirits within the craft world, scrying the best possible paths for what must be done. In some of the visions he saw his own death while in others he saw the mission fulfilled but that is not what saddened him. What saddened him the most was knowing that he must strike against his own kind. That was the hardest decision that he ever had to make but if he did not succeed in retrieving the Shard of Elvastarn from his exodite cousins then an untold number of Eldar lives would be lost to the recently awaken necrons of the Chauk'Taun Dynasty.
The shard was created back in the days of the War in the Heavens and played an instrumental role in siphoning power from C'Tans, thus weakening their power and the power the necrons would be able to summon. After most of the necrons went into hiding the shard was hidden away on the Exodite world for safe keeping but in the untold millennia since then the Exodite world has had little contact with their craft world brethren and most of their population has passed on, resulting in their reliance on using wraith constructs to help defend their planet. Attempts to communicate with the Exodite world were met with silence. Maybe they forgot the importance of the device that they have in their possession, or maybe they hold the object in high reverence and do not want to part with it. Regardless of their intent, Farseer iliquip knew that getting that device was imperative. After consulting with the commanders aboard the craft world, the decision was made to take a small strike force that would be able to move in, grab the shard, and move out quickly to minimize the loss of life on both sides.
Deployment:
I put my Aegis line between some 4+ ruins and 5+ area terrain. The Spiders go in the ruins and the guardian squad with the scatter laser and Farseer go in behind the aegis line. The serpent with the dire avengers goes behind the line as well. I place the other serpent and falcon off to my left behind some trees so that they can scoot out and get some key shots on the war walkers.
Hyv3 places his two shadow weavers in his far left corner, his wraith guard and seer behind the center ruins and the serpent, war walkers, and wraith knight all go in his right corner behind some trees. He places the jet bikes into reserve.
Hyv3 rolls to seize the initiative and gets it... damn.
Hyv3 turn 1:
Movement:
He scoots the walkers and serpent up and along the side to get a clear line on my serpent and falcon. The wraith knight jumps up towards the center of the board and the wraith guard and seer walk up into the ruins.
Shooting:
The wave serpent and walkers get enough glancing hits to wreck the wave serpent. (First Blood to Hyv3)
The shadow weavers drop some templates on the guardians trying to target the farseer and lasCannon. One of the shots deviate onto the spiders and the other gets the farseer and gun. After all damage rolls he kills 1 guardian, 1 wound on the LasCannon, and kills 2 warp spiders. The wraith knight fires on the Falcon and wrecks it. He then runs the wraith guard further up into the ruins.
Grubs turn 1:
Ouch, not what I was expecting. Well, my two units that were supposed to mess with his flank are out so now I have to re-evaluate what I should go for. The walkers are pretty much in cover so I decide to go for his only troop choice on the board.
Movement:
I move the serpent up towards the ruins and push my guardians from the wreckage towards the center to try and get some lucky blade storm shots against the WK. I opt to keep the spiders in cover for one more turn as I don’t want to leave them out in the open for the shadow weaver.
Shooting:
I shoot at the wraith guard with my farseer and guardians but he makes all of his saves. The wave serpent also fires into the wraith guard and I am able to bring one down.
As dawn slowly crept over the horizon, the craft world eldar were making their way through the already sweltering jungles of the exodite planet. The series of ruins that they were entering was where the Shard of Elvastarn was kept and still there was no sign of their exodite kin. Suddenly, two flashes as bright as a sun, slammed into the wave serpent and falcon on the left flank, bringing both vehicles down. The guardians within the wave serpent picked themselves from the rubble of their craft and formed up into a fighting formation. Farseer iliquip and the squad, safely behind their mobile defense line catch glimpses of wraith constructs up ahead and open fire, but fail to cause any damage.
Points:
Hyv3: 3 (first blood, 2 kill points)
Grubs: 0
Hyv3 turn 2:
Movement: The two squads of jet bikes come in but stay in the back corner. Hyv3 moves the WK towards the squad that was in the wrecked serpent. The wave serpent and walkers follow close behind.
Shooting:
The walkers are able to see 3 spiders and kills 3, leaving 2. His wave serpent fires at mine but I make all of my saves. The shadow weavers again target my Farseer He is able to destroy my lascannon and inflict hits on my farseer. I promptly look out sir them onto the squad.
Assaults:
The Wk charges the guardians on foot and I fail to inflict any over watch hits. He makes the charge but inflicts no hits. Since I cannot wound it in combat I try to break away and succeed.
Grubnards turn 2:
Ok, definitely not looking good for me.
I try to rally the fleeing guardians but they continue to fall back. Stopping 1" from the board.
Movement: I decide to jump the 2 remaining spiders out to try and take down some wraith guard while I still have them but... I lose one to the warp. I also move the wave serpent up a little to get the jinx save. The farseer and his squad head towards the ruins.
Shooting:
The spider kill 1 WG
The wave serpent puts a wound on a war walker and then the guardian's scatter laser puts on the final wound to bring it down.
Points:
Hyv3: 3 (first blood, 2 kill points)
Grubs: 0
With all of the attention on the hulking wraith knight, the craft world eldar fail to see the guns of the support batteries until it is too late. Razor sharp filament drifts down upon the guardians and warp spiders, reducing them to a bloody pulp. The wraith construct charges into the guardians and they promptly flee from the construct. Seeing all cohesion is lost with his formation, the farseer orders the remaining elements to head for shelter within the ruins. There must be a way for him to contact his exodite kin and bring a halt to this madness.
Hyv3 turn 3:
Movement:
The Wraith Knight heads towards the middle and the walkers make their way along my flank but keep cover between us.
Shooting:
The Wraith Guard kill off the last spider and the Wraith Knight shoots at my remaining serpent but I make all of my cover saves. The wave serpent shoots into my fleeing guardians, causing enough wounds to trigger another morale test which causes them to flee the board. The shadow weavers kill the farseer and all but 1 guardian .
Assaults:
The Wk charges WS and brings it down.
Grubnards Turn 3:
Movement:
I bring my dire avengers back towards the ruins as well as the las guardian. The Avengers Blade storm the Wraith Knight and finally inflict a wound!! The scatter laser does nothing.
Points:
Hyv3: 7 (first blood, Slay the Warlord, 5 kill points)
Grubs: 0
The game is pretty much over. I'll just go through the motions and try to inflict more wounds on the Wraith Knight.
Hyv3 Turn 4
Movement:
He scoots the jet bikes up for line breaker.
Shooting:
The Wraith Knight and Shadow Weavers finish off the last guardian and dire avengers. I am tabled.
Within 30 minutes of the first strike it is all over. Farseer Iliquip's squad is all but decimated. The sounds of explosions and shuriken fire are slowly replaced with the sounds of the jungle. The spirit seer of the exodite world slowly picks his way through the wreckage and picks up the soul stones from the deceased eldar. They were brave and proud warriors in life and they would live on as wraith constructs in his world, protecting the Shard that they gave their lives trying to take.
Points:
Hyv3: 11 (first blood, slay the warlord, line breaker, 8 kill points)
Grubs: 0
Post Game Thoughts: Grubnards
Yes that's right, I scored 0 points. What went wrong? Well in a nut shell, everything from the point he seized the initiative. If I was able to retain the initiative I think I could have seriously hurt his war walker threat from the get go. I knew the wraith knight would be tough but I figured I had enough mobility to keep it away but once he downed my vehicles on turn 1 I knew it was over. Things I should have done differently was deep strike the spiders to mess with the walkers/serpent or those blasted support batteries from the back of the field and hide those vehicles better in deployment. I guess I was too cocky thinking that I was going first. The only things that I would do differently with my list is drop the aegis line and swap out the falcon, plus the points from the defense line, to add some walkers to my list. Even though it was a brutally 1 sided game, I had a fun time playing against Hyv3. He is a gracious host and I always enjoy getting a chance to play at his place. In closing, I hope I do not have to face this list on Saturday but if I do I think I will be a little better prepared to face off against it.
We would go on to play one more game in which I used my foot list but I did not have enough time to type that up and with the tournament happening this weekend I am sure there will be plenty of battle reports from the bloggers. Suffice it to say that I fared just as badly in the second game as I did in the first. It was primarly a foot list and while the Avatar was able to tie up the wraith knight for a few turns, Hyv3 was able to pick the rest of my army apart each turn until there was nothing left.
Let's hope the dice gods smile down on me this weekend!!
Good report and nice detail with the narrative fluffy part :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think the dice had much chance of changing this battle. Hyv3 is a master strategist and can usually tell by deployment which way the battle will go. Him seizing the initiative just meant that the game was over even faster.
This game was decided after the first shooting phase. Maybe even after the deployment of your troops.
You deployed in a narrative way where Hyv3 deployed like a tournament player. The way he shielded his walkers with the WK is classic Hyv3, even if he deployed first, he would still shield them in case you had seized. You did not use the same tactic.
Hyv3 kept the WK up front to threaten you, the same way a GK player will shove a paladin squad in your face. He knew the warwalkers were the real threat, as they are in Hyv3's lists. This leaves you with two choices, focus them or hide from them.
If you had deployed more aggressively with your aegis line and used the spiders earlier it would have given you a few more choices. The serpent and faclon should also be in cover until you are 100% sure you will get to use them at least for a turn ;) Leaving them in the corner and betting that Hyv3 won't seize is risky.
You should have switched lists and replayed the mission from just before deployment to see how big a difference generalship makes.
Hey it's pretty cool that someone follows enough of my games to be able to point out "classic hyv3mynd" moves, and thanks for the compliments. The Eldar army fits my playstyle well with mobility, a fast MC, resilient options, and scoring units that I can reserve without missing them.
DeleteYou're right about deployment as well. Eldar speed allows me to deploy very defensively to protect my units, even when going first. The walkers don't need to be screened thanks to their new invuln. I deployed them as such to block LoS from his icarus and wave serpent on the left. Using war walkers properly begins with the terrain set up as you want to be able to battle focus back into safety.
Seizing the initiative in this format is pretty broken. There's no room to out-range someone on a 4x4' table. I got to see his deployment, counter with my own, and take first turn with 4 units on the table that can fire 36"+. I've got two more practice games this week and I won't try to seize this time to see if my army can withstand the first turn of shooting.
Oh, no doubt about it, Hyv3 has put together a tough list where each unit compliments each other and if you ignore just one or two units you will pay for that mistake. That's part of the beauty of the Eldar codex, each section has great choices that create a great synergy. I agree that my deployment was pretty poor but its better to learn these things in a fun format rather than at a tournament. You can bet I'll take the lessons learned from this game and apply it to my games this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback and I'm glad you enjoyed the report!
Don't be afraid to keep the skimmers way back. Fast skimmers can move 12" and still fire 2 weapons at full BS.
DeleteI would have placed the big BLoS wall more centrally and used it to play whack-a-mole with the spiders jumping up and back behind. You could have used it to block the skimmers pretty well also.
I liked this list better than the second the more I thought of it. I wouldn't have seized the initiative, your skimmers and icarus would have laid down some pain on me. I do think you need a CC unit as a 4x4' table will feel really small when cavalry and jump MC's start coming for you. I think the avatar or even a single wraithlord would do the trick.
Yeah, this game was a good lesson on Eldar tactics. For example, up until that game I never thought of using the Serpent shield as aggressively as Hyv3 did. I did not highlight it in the report but just about every turn hyv3 would fire with his scatter lasers and then discharge the Str7 energy shield, making it twin-linked due to the scatter laser. It also helped that he rolled a 6 for the number of hits with the energy shield just about every turn. ;)
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