Brief Report of 750 Dark Eldar vs Blood Angels Drop Pod Assault

So on the back of the tailoring article on Wednesday I did play two games in the evening vs an Imperial Guard player and then Blood Angels.

I won't report much on the first game as it was pretty one sided in the most part.

He ran:

Leman Russ Vanquisher with Camo Netting
Leman Russ Destroyer? with Camo Netting (The thing with a Demolisher Cannon)
Leman Russ Destroyer? with Camo Netting
Vendetta with lots of Las Cannons and Heavy Bolters

Basically my Ravagers blew up one of the Troops first turn while my Blasters and Haywire Blasters from Scourges took out another, my Venom ran and hid on an objective.

Rest of the game was firing absolutely everything at his HQ Tank and him passing 13-14 cover saves on a 3+ and when I finally gave up and flew over him to get no cover shots... he passed the cover saves on a 6.

Regardless though his Vendetta and Vanquisher just couldn't kill enough to stop me grabbing 3 of the objective to his 1 (Went into hover with the vendetta turn 5) and won 11-4 (He had one objective and one for destroying  a Heavy, I had 3, line breaker and first blood)

-----------------

Second game against Blood Angels was much more interesting, as per my article Wednesday I did run a more balanced list (not just kabalites in transports) that I felt would give me more of a chance.

This is the two lists:

Blood Angels:

Sanguinary Priest with Combi Melta and Auspex
7 Sternguard with Heavy Flamer, Flamer, 2 Combi Meltas
Drop Pod

10 Tactical Marines with Heavy Flamer/Flamer
Drop Pod

Furioso Dread with Frag Cannon and Heavy Flamer Power Fist
Drop Pod

5 Tactical Marines with Heavy Bolter

------------------

Dark Eldar:

Medusa
Raider with Enhanced Aethersails

5 Kabalites with Blaster
Raider

5 Kabalites with Blaster
Raider

5 Scourges with 4 Haywire Blasters

Venom with 2x Splinter Cannon

Ravager with 3 Dark Lances

Ravager with 3 Dark Lances

------------------

So looking at his list I was still very worried about the flamers (2 S6 // 3 S5 // 2 S 4), but hoping that by deploying my kabalites in reserve I'd be able to limit the damage done.

Mission was Relic and Night Fighting was in effect, I won the roll and asked Fred to deploy his Blood Angels first and I would go second, reasoning if I went first I'd only be able to hurt the 5 tac marines, and I wanted to be able to go last come the end of the game.

I deployed my Scourges and Medusa (Not joined) in the bottom right corner and spaced all my vehicles to block access to them and try and limit how many vehicles he could catch with one template.

He landed the Dread and Sternguard first turn, pretty much central and as close to my deployment zone as he could get. Frag Cannon explodes a Ravager and stuns a Raider while the Sternguard blow up the venom. Painful but not as bad as it could have been had my kabalites been sat in their vehicles.

I managed to put 2 HP and immobilise the dread but couldn't finish it off, Medusa got 8 marines under the template and wounded 4... which they all save with FNP due to the Sanguinary Priest. Disappointing!

Most of the rest of the game involved me trying to run away whilst firing what I could into the Sternguard to whittle them down. The Dread went down T2 with a Disintegrator Cannon in the back, but by T4 I had 1 Raider on 2 Hull Points hiding on the far left, 1 Ravager on 2 Hull Points and 1 Kabalite with Blaster on the right near his deployment zone, and my other unit of kabalites at full strength about halfway up the field in the centre. He had 2 Sternguard, 10 Tac Marines, and the 5 man Combat Squad. Not looking good!

Turn 5 he started moving his Combat Squad towards the objective but they were still a good 5-6 inches short after running. The Sternguard moved and charged the Ravager, putting a Hull Point on it, while the 10 Marines ran towards the Relic, ending about 1/2 " from it.

I moved the Raider within 1" of the objective and everything moved and fired at the marines by the Relic, between them killing I think 5-6 marines but leaving a few still within 3" of the Relic.

We rolled for end of game and hit a 2 so tallied up the scores. I had Slay the Warlord to his First Blood and Slay the Warlord. I checked with my opponent what detachment he was running and it was the Blood Angels specific one so no Objective Secured. My Raider therefore could steal the Relic from under the nose of the Tactical Marines and claim the win for me at 4-2.

Overall I was pretty happy with the game. I think I played reasonably well and did what I could to minimise the alpha strike, I was unfortunate with the Ravager exploding and my opponent passing 4 FNP on the Sternguard  but that's dice for you. By t2 it was clear that the only way I was going to win was through the objective, so I did what I could to pull the marines after my Ravager and Kabalites etc. to try and ensure they wouldn't go and sit on the objective, which would have made it almost impossible for me to shift them (If they pick it up I'm pretty sure I can't claim it by being in 3")

My main learning points from the 2 games were:

• As long as I've got a plan for my opponent bringing drop pods, I "can" limit the destruction they cause and not automatically lose the game. I think my deployment worked well to limit the damage and although it hurt me (1 Ravager, the Venom and stunning the Raider meant it was pretty much confined to dying t2) I was happy enough after his first turn that I would still be able to strike back. I think if we hadn't been doing the relic mission it would have been easier for me to leave the marines there and fly off, but sadly they were within 10-12" of the Relic the whole game so I couldn't just leave them to themselves.

• Objective Secured is huge, I think the way Dark Eldar play you need to have this and it's fantastic that you can take an absolute pounding, be almost completely tabled, but that one Raider can still win you the game from almost anywhere on the board (12" move, 24" boost with aethersails)

• Scourges with Haywire Blasters are fantastic reliable anti tank, I've not really used them before, preferring to spam Raiders with Kabalites in, but there is a massive difference between glancing on a 4 and glancing on a 2. These have definitely won a bump up my painting queue and I'll likely be using two units with 4 Haywire in most of my games in future. 240pts for 8 haywire shots from 36" away (12" move, 24" range) seems great value, and with a 4+ save and 5+ FNP from T3, they're a fairly survivable unit by Dark Eldar standards.

Busy Weekend and Lack of Progress // Space Marines with Fire Raptor vs Wych Cult 1750pts

Hi guys,

apologies but little to update you on today, I had a work Christmas do on Friday which was... messy... and spent most of Saturday recovering before a 40k game on Sunday night.

I'll write up the game from Sunday night and I hope to have this up by Wednesday, with another Infinity Battle Report up on Friday.

Just as a preview the lists we used were:

1750pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Parasites Kiss, Haywire Grenades

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shields

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shields

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance and Night Shields

5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons and Splinter Cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion
 - Blaster with Cluster Caltrops x2

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Heat Lance with Cluster Caltrops

5 Scourges
 - 4 Haywire Blasters

------------------------------

1750 Space Marines

Reclusiarch in Terminator Armour

5 Assault Terminators with 3 TH+SS and 2 Lightning Claws

Librarian in Terminator Armour with 10 Devastators (4 missile launchers with Flakk)

2 x 5 man Tac Squads with Heavy Bolter (Razorback with TL Assault Cannon)

2 x 5 man Tac Squads with Missile Launchers and Flakk (Razorback with Las/Plas)

Dreadnought with 2 x TL Autocannon

Aegis Defence Line

Fire Raptor (AV 12 Flyer with  4 Hull Points, has an Avenger Boltgun on the front, 2 waist mounted TL autocannons on each side and 4 StormStrike Missiles. Has a nasty rule that allows it to shoot at 4 targets a turn as well and has BS5 against ground targets.)

Wych Cult vs Blood Angels - 1750pt Battle Report

Ok so on to the game, if you are looking for the lists, please see the previous post.

I apologise for the poor quality pictures, they're taken using my mobile and I was just snapping very quick shots while we went through so a number of them are blurry. Hopefully the maps will help you see what's happening :)

Mission: Crusade (5 Objectives rolled, 3 VP's each at the end of the game)

Deployment: Dawn of War

Night fighting:Yes

Warlord Traits: 

 - Dark Eldar - Towering Arrogance (Fearless to Warlord and units within 12")

 - Blood Angels - Forgot to roll (oops)

Combat Drugs: +1 WS

Psychic Powers: Prescience // Foreboding // Precognition

Dark Eldar won the roll and decided to deploy first and take first turn

Terrain Setup (Ignore the Dark Eldar)

Deployment

Dark Eldar deploy first and put all the Raiders on the right out of LOS of the Quad Gun in case the Blood Angels seize the initiative, the Reavers with Heat Lance deploy with them on the right to try and dissuade the Knight and Baal from deploying opposite, the other Reavers deploy on the left hand side along with the two venoms containing Succubus/Incubi and Kabalites just left of centre.

Blood Angels Put the Death Company Rhino on the left and deploy the Librarian with Devastators manning the Quad Gun with the Baal Predator next to them. Imperial Knight just to the right of them (as you look at the map) behind the two story ruin.

Blood Angels try to Seize and fail.

Blurry Pic:

DE Turn 1

Venoms pull left to draw a bead on the Quad Gun and open fire at it, the first Venom destroys the Quad whilst between the Reavers and the second Venom 2 marines from the Devastator unit are killed.

In the centre the Scourge jump forward into the crater and fire at the Knight, causing 3 Glances and 1 Penetrating hit of which 2 Glances and then Penetrating hit are saved by the shield. (5 HP left)

On the right the small unit of Reavers moves and boosts behind the ruin at the top right, hoping to bring their Heat Lance into play next turn. The 3 Raiders move out trying to spread a bit to avoid more than 1 getting hit by the Battle Cannon and fire at the Knight, causing one penetrating hit which blows off the close combat weapon. (4 HP left)

Blurry Pics:

BA Turn 1

The Rhino on the left moves 12" around the woods and pops smoke, Baal Predator fires at the Kabalite venom and wrecks it despite jinking. Librarian casts prescience and the Devastators fire at the Incubi's ride which jinks for a 3+ (Night fighting) and saves everything.

The Knight moves out slightly and shoots stubbers against the small unit of Reavers which Jink for a 2+ and the Battle Cannon at the middle raider which Stuns it and leaves it on 1 hull point.

Dark Eldar 0 - 1 Blood Angels (First Blood)

Blurry Pic:

DE Turn 2

All 3 Razorwings fail to come on.

The left Reavers jump over the wood to line up shots at the Devastators and the venom moves up 6" alongside the wrecked Venom before the Succubus and Incubi disembark ready to charge (thought about this for a while first.)

The Reavers shoot at the Baal in the end along with the Kabalites that have climbed into the ruins, hoping that the Succubus and Incubi can take care of the Devastators and Librarian. They Stun it and leave it on 1 hull point before using their Eldar Jetbike move to jump into the crater in front of the Predator.

Succubus throws the Animus Vitae which hits but fails to wound before they charge in, Succubus challenges and kills the unit champion before the rest of the unit kills all the Incubi (no grenades :( ) Succubus is fearless so stays put.

On the right I move everything up and around to take shots at the Imperial Knight and cause 1 glance, with the rest missing, failing to pen, or being saved (4 Haywire Blasters and 2 Dark Lances, then 2 snap shots from Dark Lance / Heat Lance)

Reavers then charge into the Knight (I forgot about Stomp and thought I could lock it in combat, never played against a Knight) and the Cluster Calrops on the specialist cause one rend leaving it on 2 HP, return stomping and attacks kill 2 Reavers.

Blurry Pics:

BA Turn 2

Vanguard Vets drop between the two woods and prepare to charge the Venom but the Assault Marines and Terminators stay off for now.

The Death Company Rhino moves forward at cruising speed through the woods and shoots at the venom but no damage, Baal fires snap shots at the Venom which jinks and saves everything.

The Knight walks out of combat towards the Scourges and fires into them with it's Heavy Stubbers however their armour and 6+ FNP saves all but the front Shard Carbine Scourge. The Battle Cannon fires at the stunned Raider and wrecks it, causing the Wyches to bail out towards the objective.

In the Assault phase the Knight charges the scourges and stomps all but one, with the remaining Scourge fleeing and getting away. The Succubus puts one wound on the Librarian and then takes two wounds from the combined attacks of the unit and Librarian. Stays put again due to Fearless

Dark Eldar 0 - 1 Blood Angels 

Blurry Pics:

DE Turn 3

All 3 flyers come in and line up shots, with the two dark lance Razorwings aiming at the Knight while the Disintegrator Cannon Razorwing flys at the Vanguard Veterans.

The one remaining Scourge rallies on a double 1 and snap shoots at the Knight but misses, the 2 remaining raiders move around to line up shots but have to move at cruising speed so haywire grenades will be snap firing. I bottle it and the Wyches stay in their transport as I hope to kill it with shooting this turn rather than risk my Wyches being stomped on or left in the open with the Assault Marines dropping in. The Reaver with Heat Lance and Caltrops moves just behind the Knight.

I open up with 6 Dark Lances and 2 Haywire Grenades (Snap Fired) as well as the Heat Lance and after saves the only thing to have caused any damage was the Heat Lance which knocked another HP off, but the Knight is still standing with one remaining Hull Point. I charge in with the Reaver and the Cluster Caltrops finish the job.

The Reaver and the closest Raider are caught in the explosion but it fails to wound / penetrate.

On the left the Venom moves forward into the Crater in the middle right in front of the Baal Predator and onto that objective, while the Reavers move to get shots with their blasters at the rear armour of the Rhino, stunning it and leaving it on 1 HP. I considered charging it and finishing the job with Cluster Caltrops but I don't want to be charged by the Death Company next turn so instead move to block all the exit points, trapping them inside barring an emergency disembarkation.

The Disintegrator Cannon Razorwing fires the 2 DC's plus the Splinter Cannon at the Vanguard Vets but I'm worried about the missiles scattering onto my Reavers so don't fire those. I kill 4 Vanguard Vets and leave alive. The Kabalites also shoot into the unit hoping to finish them off but can't do so.

In the Assault Phase the Succubus fails to do any wounds and the marines pull her down for Slay the Warlord.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels (Slay the Warlord)

Blurry Pics:





BA Turn 3

The Assault Marines fail to come in again, the Terminators do, but try and drop by the Wyches in the bottom right and mishap, having to go back into Reserves.

Death Company stay in the Rhino, not wanting to emergency disembark, and the Rhino and passengers fire at the Kabalites but fail to hit / wound.

Librarian casts Prescience and Precognition and the unit shoots at the DC armed Razorwing which jinks but fails to save 2 penetrating hits, leaving it stunned and on 1 HP.

Baal Predator fires into the Venom in front of it and wrecks it.

Vanguard Vet shoots and then charges the Kabalites in the ruins but causes no wounds and they bounce off his armour in return.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels



DE Turn 4

The DC armed Flyer flies off the board while the other two move over towards the Librarian and Devastator unit and fire missiles / lances into them killing 3. The Heat Lance armed Reaver moves behind the Baal Predator and misses, before charging in with Caltrops and wrecking it.

The rest of the Reavers move back and shoot at the Rhino again, wrecking it but finding themselves unable to charge the Death Company as they disembarked on the far side out of LOS, I use their jetbike move to pull back away from the objectives into the woods in the Marine deployment Zone.

The two Raiders move around for position and fire lances at the Rhino / Pred, missing. The remaining scourge moves to sit on the objective in the ruins.

In the Assault phase the Kabalites manage to bring down the Vanguard Vet and consolidate back into the ruins towards the objective.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels

Blurry Pics

BA Turn 4

The Assault Terminators come in again and this time land close to their target, running in the shooting phase towards my Wyches sat on the objective.

The Assault Marines also come down near to the objective in the centre of my deployment zone and run in the shooting phase to spread slightly.

Death Company move south through the woods towards the objective on the left of my deployment and run in the shooting phase.

Devastators and Librarian shoot at one of the dark lance Razorwings and it crashes and burns in the open.

Dark Eldar 0 - 2 Blood Angels

DE Turn 5 

I forget to bring the DC armed Razorwing back on. The Reavers on the left move towards the Death Company and the remaining flyer turns and heads that way as well, firing 4 missiles and killing 2 Death Company and 1 of the Reavers that had strayed too close. The Reavers then charge in and kill another one, losing two back but staying in combat due to fearless.

One of the Raiders goes flat out down into position to deal with the Assault Marines next turn, while the other moves onto the objective in front of the Aegis. Combined fire from the HL Reaver, Raider and Passengers followed by a charge from the Reaver finishes off the Librarian and Devastators for Slay the Warlord.

The Wyches in the bottom right move up and shoot then charge the terminators, killing 2 and losing 1 in return although the Terminators hold.

Dark Eldar 1 - 2 Blood Angels (Slay the Warlord)

BA Turn 5

Assault marines move around the objective in the centre and shoot at the Kabalites in front of them but they pass all of the cover / feel no pain saves.

In Assault the Death Company and Reavers beat on each other but no casualties due to armour/feel no pain on both sides saving them.

In combat between the Wyches and Terminators one more Wych dies while what wounds do get through on the Terminators are saved.

We counted up the scores to see who would win if the game ended at this point and they stood at:

Dark Eldar (STW // LB // 2 Objectives) 8 - 6 Blood Angels (STW // FB // LB // 1 Objective)

Rolling the dice we got another turn

DE Turn 6

Still forgot to bring the DC armed Razorwing back on, the other flyer left the table.

Kabalites spread out and fired at the Assault Marines killing one.

The HL Reaver moved to claim the objective in front of the Aegis and one Raider went flat out down to claim the bottom left objective while the other moved around towards the Assault Marines and the Wyches disembarked. They shot and then charged in (WS 5 with Rage, Furious Charge, Fearless, Feel No Pain by this point), losing 3 to overwatch before killing the Unit Champion and 4 Marines, taking one casualty back.

Death company killed one more Reaver and lost one more marine.

Terminators killed 1 Wych and took no casualties.


BA Turn 6

Just the assault phase left, in which the Death Company and Reavers continue to slap each other and the Terminators kill 2 more Wyches, leaving just the Hydrae and Hekatrix.

Wyches in the centre cause a couple of casualties and take none back, with the marines fleeing (and getting away) off the objective.

At this point we decided to call the game.

Dark Eldar (STW // LB // 4 Objectives) 14 - 3 Blood Angels (STW // FB // LB )

So I really enjoyed the game despite making a good few mistakes as hopefully I'll learn from those and get better as a player.

If I was going back now I think the things I'd have done differently:

Don't jink with the jetbikes with Heat Lance on the first turn, I needed the gun not to be snap firing and they were in cover anyway.

Don't charge the jetbikes into the knight, stomp is nasty - I was lucky to get away with the Heat Lance surviving as it then went on to destroy the Knight, the Baal, and finished off the devastators before claiming an objective at the end of the game. Definitely my man of the match!


Should have just kept my Incubi and Succubus in their Venom turn 2, the Reavers could have charged instead and in charging through cover with Incubi against a reasonably sized unit they just melted.

Don't forget my Razorwings when they've flown off the table, they're not dead!

----------

Those are the obvious ones I can think of, I'm happy to hear any feedback from anyone who has an opinion on it.

What would you have done differently if you were the Dark Eldar and/or the Blood Angels player?

Thanks for reading,


Rich

Wych Cult vs Blood Angels 1750 - Lists

So had my game Wednesday night against Fred with his Blood Angels and Imperial Knight, lists as below, I'll follow this up with the battle report later today / tomorrow as completed

1750pt Realspace Raiders

Succubus
 - Archite Glaive, Animus Vitae

4 Incubi
 - Klaivex
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

8 Wyches
 - Hekatrix with Agoniser and Haywire Grenades
 - Hydra Gauntlets
 - Raider with Dark Lance

5 Kabalite Warriors
 - Blaster
 - Venom with 2 Splinter Cannons

Razorwing Jetfighter with Disintegrator Cannons and a Splinter Cannon

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

Razorwing Jetfighter with Dark Lances

6 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion with Agoniser and Cluster Caltrops
 - Blaster x2
 - Cluster Caltrops x1 (additional to the Arena Champ)

3 Reaver Jetbikes
 - Arena Champion
 - Heat Lance with Cluster Caltrops

5 Scourges
 - 4 Haywire Blasters

-------------------------

1750pt Blood Angels

Terminator Librarian
 - Mastery Level 2, Terminator Armour, Combi Flamer

5 Assault Terminators
 - 3 Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield
 - 2 Lightning Claws

6 Death Company
 - Rhino

10 Assault Marines
 - Flamer

5 Vanguard Vets

10 Devastators
 - 4 Flakk Missiles

Baal Predator
 - Twin Linked Assault Cannon and 2 Heavy Bolters

Aegis Defence Line
 - Quad Gun

Imperial Knight
 - Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, 2 Heavy Stubbers, Close Combat D Weapon

------------------------------

Thoughts on the lists?

Any predictions?

Will try and get the battle report up asap just trying to work it through battle chronicler and adding the pictures (I took some more this time but haven't looked at what quality they are yet and they tailed off towards the end of the game as it was late)