I headed down to Empire Games today and had a couple good games. The first of these two was a little exhibition game with my friend Brandon Maynard. He had his Saim Hann army, so we decided that the background of the battle was a dispute of honor between the two clans. It was a Seize Ground mission with Dawn of War deployment. We ended up having five objectives and Brandon just so happened to have beautiful objective markers. There was a power generator in the center of the city, power cells to the generator were in one of the corner buildings, a power conductor was placed in open ground opposite the power cells, and there were also two downed marines (we assume they possessed some vital information to the city). This is a quick rundown of how it went.
The Exodites ended up going first and started with both units of pathfinders in buildings and Sheandreal ("counts as" Eldrad Ulthran) guarding the power cells for the power generator. On my roll for reserves I lucked out and rolled 6's on three of my fleet/run rolls. This benefited Yvenaurael (Avatar), my Keepers of Dreams (Harlequins), and my Royal Guardians (Dire Avengers) who moved onto the table at a rate of 12 inches! My Great Dragon (Wraithlord) and Dragon Knights (Banshees) came in at a rate of 10 and 11 inches, it was some good fleet/run rolls. Shooting was pretty much null though. I rolled very low on my nightfight rolls and didn't hit anything.
My right side of the table after reserves arrived
My left side after reserves arrived
Sheandreal looks out toward the power generator while guarding the power cells
Brandon's Saim Hann faired much better on their first turn. His Striking Scorpions outflanked my right side well within charging range of some very unsuspecting Dragon Knights, catching them completely offguard. He also had a Falcon carrying five Fire dragons charge 24 inches up the right side of the battlefield, and a Waveserpent carrying 10 Dire Avengers lead by his prime Autarch (Prince Yriel) charged 24 inches on my left. Luckily his reapers had to walk on lugging their heavy weapons, so I was safe from them for now. His pathfinders opened up on my pathfinders but their 2+ cover saves held firm. Unfortunately I can't say the same for my Dragon Knights, four of them ended up going down to pistol fire from the Striking Scorpions. If that wasn't bad enough they ended up getting wiped out by a very well placed charge, they did lose two scorpions in the process though. I did like the moment where the two exarchs faced off though, my executioner just didn't have enough to best his scorpion claw.
Right side after Brandon's reserves arrived
That Waveserpent was looking to unleash on my Royal Guardians
His Scorpions are looking pretty eager to chew up some unsuspecting Dragon knights
This wasn't looking too good for me
The defining moment was when the exarchs met one on one, it didn't end well for me.
The Exodites turned it up a bit in turn two. One unit of my pathfinders took out two Scorpions and the other unit of pathfinders sniped one of brandons pathfinders (we ended up having a pretty good roof to roof shootout the whole game). I took a shot at his falcon with a Wyvern, it was in vain though, Brandon passed his cover save for moving fast which prevented me from penetrating it's armor. In the assault phase Yvenaurael charged the scorpions dispatching all but two of them, it was sweet vengeance and the scorpions knew they were doomed. Despite the fact that they knew they were in trouble, the scorpions held their ground by easily passing their morale check.
The Saim Hann weren't going away though. Brandon strategically positioned his Waveserpent in the perfect spot to wreak havoc on my Royal guardians in his next turn. While his Dark Reapers had to yield another turn of shooting to properly position themselves, his pathfinders were the only units able to shell out some suppressing fire. Unfortunately they failed to do any damage as my 2+ cover saves once again held off the enemy fire. In his assault phase Yvenaurael made quick work of the remaining Scorpions and I rolled a 6 for consolidation, which I used to advance on the smaller of the two buildings holding Pathfinders.
The Falcon was moving too quick for the Wyvern to get a good shot at it
A very well placed shot took this unit of pathfinders from six to five
Yvenaurael is looking to avenge his fallen knights
Some very frustrated Reapers are still looking to get into the fight
After a close call the Saim Hann Falcon is looking to get out of harms way
These scorpions look up at their impending doom.
Unfortunately I didn't take notes! I am mad at myself and I won't make that mistake again, but that means my memory is a little shaky for turns three, four, and five. I will sum them up quickly though. Yvenaurael suffered a wound from the Reapers as he advanced on the building with the Pathfinders in it. Yriel and his Dire Avengers disembarked and fired upon my Royal Guardians. His fleet move, however, wasn't enough to get him into combat. He later fell to a S9 prism shot. The Dire Avengers did finish off the rest of my Royal Guardians only to be dispatched by a dispersed shot from a prism. The determined unit of Reapers finally made it to their position, only to be met by ten rounds of sniper fire that left only two standing. After Taking a wound from a whittled down Reaper unit, Yvenaurael charged the pathfinders and took out three of them in my assault phase. Then, in Brandon's assault phase we both thought they were finished until I missed on all four of my attacks by rolling two 1's and two 2's. I should have taken a picture but I swiped them up too fast. Yvenaurael did finish them off in the following turn. The Reaper unit was wiped out by one unit of my Pathfinders, while the other unit focused on their rivals across the rooftop. The other Pathfinder unit ended up falling back after losing two more models, and due to some great save throws, my Pathfinders were unscathed. The game ended on turn five with an objective score of Saim Hann: 0 - Exodites:1.
Yriel disembarks with full intent on punishing all who stand before him
Yriel and his Dire Avengers valiantly advance on the Royal Guardians
Despite their efforts, these Pathfinders were no match for Yvenaurael
These Pathfinders watch as victory slowly slips from their fingertips
The Lileath-Aean Pathfinders make a last effort to secure the Power Cells
After a vicious roof to roof shootout, the Saim-Hann Pathfinders had no other choice but to withdraw (the roof to roof shootout was one of my favorite moments of the game)
All in all it was a great game, and it set the stage for the 3000 point battle between Chaos and Eldar (my 1500 pt army combined with Brandon's). We teamed up and played a great Capture and Control mission against a tough Chaos army. I am going to try and get that one posted as well.
I will try and improve on further battle reports in the future. I do hope you all found this entertaining, and as always ......
Thanks for tuning in!
-The Man Behind the Mask-
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