The first game was versus William and he was fielding serpent spam similar to Tony Kopach's NOVA winning eldar list along with some Forge World Hornets. This was certainly a tough matchup for the first round !
NOTE - Winner is decided by whomever accumulates the most victory points.
Here is William's army list:
Autarch/
Heavy Aspect Armor - Shuriken Pistol - Haywire Grenades - Forceshield - Fusion Gun
(I never knew which serpent that coward was hiding inside - LOL)
5x Dire Avenger - Plasma Grenades
Wave Serpent - Scatter Lasers - Twin Linked Shuriken Catapults - Holo-Field
5x Dire Avenger - Plasma Grenades
Wave Serpent - Scatter Lasers - Twin Linked Shuriken Catapults - Holo-Field
5x Dire Avenger - Plasma Grenades
Wave Serpent - Scatter Lasers - Twin Linked Shuriken Catapults - Holo-Field
5x Dire Avenger - Plasma Grenades
Wave Serpent - Scatter Lasers - Twin Linked Shuriken Catapults - Holo-Field
5x Dire Avenger - Plasma Grenades
Wave Serpent - Scatter Lasers - Twin Linked Shuriken Catapults - Holo-Field
5x Fire Dragon - Fusion Guns - Meltabombs
Wave Serpent - Scatter Lasers - Twin Linked Shuriken Catapults - Holo-Field
Wraithknight - 2x Heavy Wraightcannon
3x Hornet - Pulse Lasers - Holo-Field - Star Engines (Acute Senses)
Here are the mission rules:
Deployment - Hammer & Anvil
Night Fight - Yes
Primary 1:
Three objective markers placed evenly across the center of the table from long edge to long edge. If you win this primary it's 6 victory points and 3 for a draw.
Primary 2:
Emperor's Will - 6 victory points for a win and 3 for the draw.
Primary 3:
Purge the Alien - independent characters and super heavies are worth +1 victory points each. Again 6 victory points for the win and 3 for the draw.
Secondary Objectives (each worth 1 point):
First Blood - Slay the Warlord - Line Breaker - Last Laugh
I got the warlord trait that is +1 cover save in ruins and -1 to enemy reserve rolls. I can't remember what warlord trait my opponent got. My one useful psychic power was Psychic Shriek (Telepathy lore).
There was plenty of terrain on the table with a huge bridge across the center of the table so I had lots of places to hide when needed. I won the roll to go first and did so, my opponent failed to seize.
- PRE GAME ANALYSIS -
I will deploy all units right at the front of my deployment zone then turbo boost up into the eldar battle line enjoying a nice 2+ jink save since the first turn had Night Fight. William wisely deployed all his serpents and Wraithknight hugging his short table edge while holding the Hornets in reserve. I will need two turns to reach his battle line. Grey Hunters will pod into the center of the eldar front causing mayhem.
BikeStar - Turn 1
Grey Hunters drop in on top of a hill in the back of the eldar deployment zone with the drop pod landing smack dab on William's Emperor's Will objective marker. They disembark with a lot of shots into the rear arc of a wave serpent. All my biker squads move then turbo boost straight ahead with one squad hanging back a bit to hide behind line of sight blocking terrain. Grey Hunters fire into the wave serpent and explode it for First Blood - a couple of Dire Avengers die in the explosion but they pass their leadership checks.
Serpent Spam - Turn 1
William quickly reacts sending in the Wraithknight to marshal the Grey Hunters. A couple of Wave Serpents angle to shoot them as well. The rest of the wave serpents move into position to target my BikeStar and one other unit of bikers. The Grey Hunters suffer massive causalities then break falling back beyond the charge range of the Wraithknight. The biker squad loses one wound on the attack bike and my Chapter Master also suffers one wound as well. I'm in perfect position now to shoot and charge the eldar line.
BikeStar: 1 KP, First Blood
Serpent Spam:
BikeStar - Turn 2
The Grey Hunters regroup and move towards the Dire Avengers that spilled out of the destroyed wave serpent. BikeStar splits off towards my right to shoot and assault another wave serpent. Two biker squads move to my left to engage two separate wave serpents while the third biker squad hangs back in support still out of eldar line of sight. The Grey Hunters shoot and charge the Dire Avengers, finishing them off for another kill point. BikeStar wrecks it's targeted wave serpent and one of the biker units manages to wreck another. One squad of Dire Avengers fail their pinning check.
Serpent Spam - Turn 2
Hornets fail to arrive. William quickly reacts by shuffling his remaining wave serpents away from my bikes. Two squads of Dire Avengers and the Fire Dragons dismount, all targeting my BikeStar. The rest of the wave serpents move towards my left to focus fire on my biker squads. The Wraithknight jumps up in position to deal with the Grey Hunters. The eldar unload all their shooting focused on the BikeStar but only manage to drop two veterans from the command squad along with two wounds on the Wolf Lord. More shooting drops an attack bike and one biker. The Wraitknight then proceeds to wipe out the last of the Grey Hunters.
BikeStar: 4 KP, First Blood
Serpent Spam: 1 KP
BikeStar - Turn 3
NOTE - This would be the final turn and definitely played a role in the final outcome which I'll discuss in the post game analysis.
I've got two important goals to accomplish this turn - eliminate the Wraithknight and multi assault the exposed Dire Avengers and Fire Dragons. I split off the Chapter Master, Librarian and Wolf Lord to tackle the Wraightknight. The one bike squad that was hanging back comes out of hiding to target the Wraightknight and secure one of the objective markers for the primary objective. The other two biker units move into position to shoot and charge Dire Avengers that split out of the wave serpents last turn.
The Librarian successfully casts Psychic Shriek and drops the Wraithknight. Unfortunately he also periled, losing one wound while casting Force. Chapter Master, Librarian and Wolf Lord assault all three eldar squads (Dire Avengers and Fire Dragons), wiping them all out except for one Dire Avenger that luckily manages to break away. The two bike squads charge Dire Avengers but fail to break either squad.
Serpent Spam - Turn 3
The eldar really have their back up against the wall now and will need nothing short of some miracles to pull off the win. Hornets arrive and must outflank to turbo boost onto my Emperor's Will objective placed far back inside my deployment zone. Two wave serpents move and flat out to grab another objective marker and contest mine for the primary objective. The shooting then commences - down go my Chapter Master, Wolf Lord and Librarian (failed the very last armor save at the end of his shooting phase). Both of my biker squads locked in combat successfully hit and run.
BikeStar - 7 KP, First Blood and Line Breaker
Serpent Spam - 7 KP (2 points for each independent character), Slay the Warlord, Line Breaker and Last Blood
So it all comes down to the first two primary objectives... We draw on both Purge the Alien and Emperor's Will but William takes the first primary objective by one objective marker for a very lucky minor win.
- POST GAME ANALYSIS -
Well only being able to play three turns was a huge break for the eldar. I'm fairly confident had it gone at least one more turn I would have walked away with a big win. I had good portion of the command squad left along with all three bike squads plus one was at full strength. The Hornets were stuck in place to contest Emperor's Will so were pretty much a non factor shooting wise. I could have easily downed at lest two more wave serpents and taken the first primary objective. I don't know where the time went - I suppose it was just one of those very intense games where a lot of time and thought went into the movement phases.
So I take a minor loss but should pull a good draw the next round.
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