Hi,
here's another battle report. There won't be any picture for the moment because my opponent (Flogus) took the picture this time and I must wait for him to post his report on our usual French forum. I'll add them asap.
For this battle, we were both trying new things.
I was experimenting these modifications for the Iyanden list :
* Wraithguards take up two space in Vampire Raiders (as per MC23's suggestion).
* Spirit Warhost:
- 4 Wraithguards for 250 points.
- Upgrade A: +2 Wraithguards for +125 points, and optional Wave Serpents for + 50 each (must take enough WS to transport the whole formation).
- Upgrade B: + 3 Wraithlords for + 175 points. If Upgrade B is taken, then no Wave Serpent may be taken.
The idea was to see if 6-strong Spirit Warhost were not too powerful when deployed on Wave Serpents or via Wabway portals.
As for Flogus, he was playing regular Ig with experimental profiles for the Baneblade and Stormblade SHTs. I can't really remember their exact profile, but this version of the Baneblade was slightly upgraded (better Battle Cannon, more heavy bolters), and the Stormblade had lots of one-shot MW missiles.
Here are the army lists:
Iyanden
Spirit Warhost - 250 points
Spirit Warhost
? ? + 2 Wraithguards
? ? + 6 Wave Serpents - 675 points
Spirit Warhost
? ? + 2 Wraithguards
? ? + 3 Wraithlords - 550 points
Falcon troupe (1 Firestorm) - 250 points
Cobra - 250 points
Vampire Raider - 200 points
Phantom Titan - 750 points
Wraithgate - 50 points
Unusual list, I know. Only 7 activations... I was under a double "constraint" : I wanted to try one of each options for the Spirit Warhost, and I wanted a Titan. I had read here and there that the Phantom Titan is a monster and even though it wasn't really reasonable considering my lack of activations, I went for it anyway. ?
Imperial Guard:
Baneblade Company + Hydra
Stormblade Company + Hydra
HQ Company + Hydra
Infantry Company + Heavy Support
Manticore battery
Manticore battery
Shadowsword
Shadowsword
Sentinels
(6 commissars)
Set-up:
HQ---Manti.---Baneb./Sent./Shad.---Stormb./Shad.---Manti.
-----Infantry (Overwatch in ruins)--------------------------
----------------------------------------Wraithgate--------
SW in WS-------------Cobra-------------------Falcons/Titan
Turn 1:
Eldar won initiative.
I doubled with my titan, hiding behind woods and shooting at the manticores in the hope of destroying one and breaking the unit, but my shot missed. The manticores then shot at the Falcons, causing no casualties.
I then activated my Vampire, hesitating a long time between attacking the manticores in the middle and attacking the Stormblade before they shot at my Titan. I would certainly have destroyed the Manticores, but Flogus had deployed his hydras so as to cover most of his zone and I wasn't too sure my Vampire could resist 4 AA shots, so I attacked the Stormblade company, intermingled with one Shadowsword (the Vampire still picked up a BM and lost a DC to hydra AA fire). I was, right from the start, at a huge disadvantage : I had 2 BMs and my opponent had none, he had more than twice as much units as I had AND he had a commissar. So I started at -5 to the combat result. In spite of this and thanks to good dice rolls, I managed a draw in the first round, only losing by one pip in the second round. Still, I had destroyed one hydra, one SHT, and the other were one BM short of being broken.
I don't remember too well the rest of the turn, but here are the highlights:
- Stormblade company: broken
- right-flank Shadowsword: destroyed
- Falcon troupe: broken by manticore fire
- SW in WS: doubled and moved along the left flank
- Cobra doubled and missed
The first turn was not too bad, but after the rally rolls, I was horrified to see how little activations I had left.
Spirit Warhost - BROKEN
Spirit Warhost in Wave Serpents - INTACT, 0 BM
Spirit Warhost with Wraithlords - 2 WRAITHGUARDS DEAD, 1 BM
Falcon troupe - BROKEN
Cobra - -1DC, 2BM
Vampire Raider - DESTROYED
Phantom Titan - INTACT, 0 BM
That's right, only 4 activations left, one of which (the Cobra) was on the verge of breaking. ?
Turn 2:
Eldar won activation.
Again, only the highlights (I'll take some notes next time):
- My Titan shot at the Baneblade company... and missed again! 750 points doing nothing for 2 turns!!!
- Of course, the other Shadowsword took the opportunity to shoot at the Phantom, of course I missed my 3+ save, of course he rolled a 5 for his D3 TK damage, and OF COURSE he did a critical, leaving my Titan with no holoshield !!!! ?
- the SW in WS assaulted the Infantry company, intermingled with the HQ company. Again, I did lots of damage and took none, but I was fighting against overwhelming odds (I had picked up a BM before the assault because of overwatch fire, so I was again at -5) and lost this assault...
- The SW with Wraithlords missed it's 3+ activation roll and was later broken by shots from the Baneblade company.
End of turn, and things are looking bad indeed:
Spirit Warhost - BROKEN
Spirit Warhost in Wave Serpents - INTACT BUT BROKEN (
!!!) Spirit Warhost with Wraithlords - 3 DEAD WRAITHGUARDS, 1 BM
Falcon troupe - BROKEN
Cobra - DESTROYED
Vampire Raider - DESTROYED
Phantom Titan - -4DC, 1 BM
Only 2 activations left... ?
Turn 3:
I paused for a moment to consider my options and realised that I could still manage to break his right flank (and force a 4th turn where some of the broken formations may have rallied) by shooting with my Titan and then assaulting with my remaining SW (supported by the Titan). Of course, for that to happen, I had to win the initiative... and of course, I didn't.
What happened next :
- My Titan got shot at twice (by manticore and Shadowsword), picking up 5 BM and losing another DC (only 1 left!)
- Wondering how it could possibly still be standing, the Titan assaulted the Baneblade company, destroying it almost entirely by dying in the process.
- The SW with Wraithlords later assaulted the HQ company, which happened to pass nearby, and won the assault thanks to very lucky dice rolls (again, overwhelming odds etc. etc....)
- The remaining Guard formations promptly took position near the important objectives
End of turn: 3-0 for the Guard (BTS, Defend the Flag, They Shall not Pass)
