thecactusman17
05-21-2011, 03:25 PM
First time I've ever felt the need to post a battle report, but this 2-turn game was too flipping cool to not get the star treatment. Venue was Games Workshop in Alamo.
My Dark Eldar Airborne vs. Imperial Guard combined infantry and tank company, slightly upgraded to 2000 points.
The Baron and The Duke lead a combined force of mounted Wyches, incubi, Hellions and a trio of Voidraven bombers against several platoons (about 100 models) of Guard Infantry lead by Straken, backed by 2 standard Leman Russ battle tanks, an Executionor, and an Exterminator.
Thanks to some fortunate rolling on my part, I went first in an Annihilation Game with Pitched Battle deployment. Units were deployed more or less as so:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/thecactusman17/BrepTheAlamo1.jpg
On my first turn, all three raiders shot forward about 16 inches and maintained roughly the same crossed over profile to give the HQ a cover save. the Voidravens moved 12" and fired on the tanks. On the right side, no tanks were hit but four missiles halved the bright green unit, which promptly ran off the table. The yellow unit next to them made cover saves and the Leman Russ squadron saw some chipped paint. On the far left, the Exterminator (labeled A for Autocannon) was stunned, and the Exectutioner in the center lost its main cannon. the Russ squadron fired back, killing the far right voidraven but the other tanks just couldn't hit back. Nightshields kept me barely out of range of his assault weapons, which he rushed forward to try and make a kill. That is to say, nearly all of his forward line moved forward six inches.
This was his mistake.
Turn two is probably the longest single turn I've ever played in a normal game. The Baron jumped out of cover with no casualties on the left of the hill while the raiders dropped their troops off onto the center hill. Duke Sliscus and his Incubi dropped onto the far right side of the hill, where they had a narrow but terrain free path straight into straken. Run moves placed all four units to within an inch of their intended targets. the trap was sprung.
After grazing a few tanks, the Assault phase saw every forward guard unit (including straken) and every Dark Eldar infantry unit make it into a single, board spanning combat. Over 50 models to a side, 9 units before counting independant characters, the Dark Eldar criss-crossing ever so slightly to glue all the combats together. By the time Dice Started rolling, this is what the board looked like:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/thecactusman17/1306008638133-1.jpg
And then the store manager came over, and seeing the dire situation, immediately pulled out the Imperial Guardsman's Uplifting Primer. Best moment I've had gaming in years.
So it came down to this. Over the next 45 minutes we worked out the assault phase for my turn.
And the Uplifting Primer gave them new strength. Incredibly, two squads survived with more than half strength, and only one unit was completely wiped from the board (in that photo, it's the one way on the left). One squad ran, but would ultimately be rallied by the company command. two others ran, and because my units were still in a combat they could not choose to pursue. Straken, Kell and a priest with bodyguard support successfully used invulnerable saves and trickery to survive and KILL nearly all the assaulting incubi (most of whom had directed attacks against standard Guardsmen). While it was a definite victory on my part for the turn, you can imagine that quickly things turned around. With the store being open 30 minutes longer already than it was supposed to be just to accomodate our game (which had attracted nearly all the gamers in the store), we agreed that his would be the final turn... on turn 2. He shot me to ribbons (killing the hellions who were caught out in the open), and ultimately I lost with only two kill points to his 3.
Amazing game, I hope to play this guy again ASAP.
My Dark Eldar Airborne vs. Imperial Guard combined infantry and tank company, slightly upgraded to 2000 points.
The Baron and The Duke lead a combined force of mounted Wyches, incubi, Hellions and a trio of Voidraven bombers against several platoons (about 100 models) of Guard Infantry lead by Straken, backed by 2 standard Leman Russ battle tanks, an Executionor, and an Exterminator.
Thanks to some fortunate rolling on my part, I went first in an Annihilation Game with Pitched Battle deployment. Units were deployed more or less as so:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/thecactusman17/BrepTheAlamo1.jpg
On my first turn, all three raiders shot forward about 16 inches and maintained roughly the same crossed over profile to give the HQ a cover save. the Voidravens moved 12" and fired on the tanks. On the right side, no tanks were hit but four missiles halved the bright green unit, which promptly ran off the table. The yellow unit next to them made cover saves and the Leman Russ squadron saw some chipped paint. On the far left, the Exterminator (labeled A for Autocannon) was stunned, and the Exectutioner in the center lost its main cannon. the Russ squadron fired back, killing the far right voidraven but the other tanks just couldn't hit back. Nightshields kept me barely out of range of his assault weapons, which he rushed forward to try and make a kill. That is to say, nearly all of his forward line moved forward six inches.
This was his mistake.
Turn two is probably the longest single turn I've ever played in a normal game. The Baron jumped out of cover with no casualties on the left of the hill while the raiders dropped their troops off onto the center hill. Duke Sliscus and his Incubi dropped onto the far right side of the hill, where they had a narrow but terrain free path straight into straken. Run moves placed all four units to within an inch of their intended targets. the trap was sprung.
After grazing a few tanks, the Assault phase saw every forward guard unit (including straken) and every Dark Eldar infantry unit make it into a single, board spanning combat. Over 50 models to a side, 9 units before counting independant characters, the Dark Eldar criss-crossing ever so slightly to glue all the combats together. By the time Dice Started rolling, this is what the board looked like:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/thecactusman17/1306008638133-1.jpg
And then the store manager came over, and seeing the dire situation, immediately pulled out the Imperial Guardsman's Uplifting Primer. Best moment I've had gaming in years.
So it came down to this. Over the next 45 minutes we worked out the assault phase for my turn.
And the Uplifting Primer gave them new strength. Incredibly, two squads survived with more than half strength, and only one unit was completely wiped from the board (in that photo, it's the one way on the left). One squad ran, but would ultimately be rallied by the company command. two others ran, and because my units were still in a combat they could not choose to pursue. Straken, Kell and a priest with bodyguard support successfully used invulnerable saves and trickery to survive and KILL nearly all the assaulting incubi (most of whom had directed attacks against standard Guardsmen). While it was a definite victory on my part for the turn, you can imagine that quickly things turned around. With the store being open 30 minutes longer already than it was supposed to be just to accomodate our game (which had attracted nearly all the gamers in the store), we agreed that his would be the final turn... on turn 2. He shot me to ribbons (killing the hellions who were caught out in the open), and ultimately I lost with only two kill points to his 3.
Amazing game, I hope to play this guy again ASAP.