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
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
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:
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:
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
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