Battle Report ? Elysians vs. Rainbow Warriors, 3000 pts
Elysian Order of Battle
This was my first battle with the Elysians and the new v2.11 list. Expecting Brett to take a fair number of Thunderhawks, I opted for a decent amount of AA assets in the form of Lightning interceptors. I also was planning on trying out the Drop Sentinels in a big way.
1 x Regimental HQ, 1 x SC, 8 x infantry
4 x Drop Troop companies, 1 x Command, 8 x infantry, 2 x Hardened Veterans
4 x Drop Sentinels, 4 x Sentinels
2 x Vulture squadrons, 4 x Vultures each
2 x Lightning squadrons, 3 x Lightnings each
Rainbow Warriors Order of Battle (from memory)
2 x Tacticals, w/Hunter, w/2 x Dreadnoughts, w/Leader
4 x Terminators, w/Leader
1 x Predator detachment (2 Destructors, 2 Annihilators)
1 x Scouts
Scenario
I have had this idea of running a ?linked? set of battles loosely modeled on Operation Market Garden for quite awhile now, and so Brett was kind enough to humor me as I work out the scenario details. The idea behind the scenario is to put the Elysians (or for that matter, the Space Marines) in a situation where their rapid strike capabilities can be used in a fashion similar to how we would normally expect a modern elite or airmobile force to operate.
In this version of the scenario, which is similar to the first map exercise I ever played with the Elysians, the dominant table feature would be a river which is impassable to most foot borne troop types, except for a large bridge. The goal of the attacking force would be to secure the bridge and the entry and exit points of the road that crosses the bridge. The reasoning for those objectives being that with those three points, then follow on assets would be able to enter the battlefield, get over the river and exit the battle field to other areas of interest.
So the victory conditions were:
Decisive victory: Control the bridge, and the entry and exit points on the road
Victory: Control two out of the three objectives
Loss: Control one out of the three objectives
Go back to Jump School: Control none of the objectives
Control is defined as having more unbroken units within 15cm of the objective than the opponent. Units that rallied from being broken at the end of the turn also do not count.
The victory conditions will be checked at the end of Turn 3 and if a decisive condition is not met, then a fourth turn will be played.
The board had a lot of hilly wooded terrain on it, bisected by a large river running SW/NE, a large bridge near the center of the board and a road that runs roughly N/S. Also on the North side of the board were some industrials complexes.
Also to add a little, uh, ?spice? to the game, I had modeled an objective marker with a wrecked rhino, a wounded commander, and a command squad which just so happened to be in the livery of the Rainbow Warriors (boy, think of the odds of that happening by chance).
Initial Deployment
I can honestly say, that I was excited about trying out the new list, but wasn?t so sure that running up against the SM?s who are the supreme drop troops, was going to be the kind of opponent that I really wanted to butt heads with. Still, it looked to be a very interesting match up and with the high mobility of each force, liable to be full of twists and turns. Little did I know?
Turn 1
So, with the initial teleports, Brett was deep into my backfield with a nasty number of terminator squads and I knew that if I didn?t deal with them, then they?d run roughshod all over my side of the board. However, I felt like I had just the answer for that in my Drop Sentinels and their macro weapon attacks. So as Brett started placing his Termies, I followed up with Sentinels. The Sentinels really needed to clear the termies out as soon as possible to allow follow on drops to get to the bridge unimpeded.
Another play I needed to get a handle on was the air game. Since Brett had not taken any air assets (they fell off their bases pre-game), I needed to be able to allow my aircraft to attack where ever they needed and that meant getting rid of the Hunters. The opening shots from a Vulture squadron took care of one of them, as well as knocking out two rhinos from one of the tactical squads, but unfortunately, that just sequed into the Terminator/Sentinel salsa dance. Oddly enough, I was able to severely damage (left one stand) or wipe out two formations for the cost of one Sentinel squadron and things were looking pretty good.
Brett on the other hand, used his terminators to just wail on a Vulture squadron, causing them to break. That hurt because I really had plans for those Hellstrikes. Bummer.
One Lightning squadron came in to finish off the stubborn terminator, while the other picked on the Preds who had tripled over to the middle of the board heading for the entry point as quickly as they could. One pass later and two were gone. However, being Space Marines, they were not broken and so remained a thorn in my side.
Turn 2
Brett drops another Terminator in my backfield and another near the bridge. I try to control my enthusiasm. I was starting to get this uneasy feeling that I didn?t have enough guns again (comes from playing other armies besides Tau). Still, the Sentinels teamed up again with a Drop company and wiped out another terminator squad. So that was three down.
However, it didn?t all go my way. By now, the other tactical unit and scouts had gotten close to the bridge and were in a very solid position. Unfortunately, this solid position also turned out to be a solid ?firing? position and some of my Drop companies began to suffer the ill effects of bolter, assault cannon and dare I say it, assaults. At this point, I?m starting to see my thrusts towards the bridge start to falter.
I need my aircraft to come in and save my rear end, and to facilitate that effort, the lone Vulture from the previously shot up squadron, spies a Hunter leading a tactical formation and introduces it to Mr. and Mrs. Hellstrike.
That?s the ticket! Now the flyboys can come in and be heroes. Unfortunately, that fire support request must have interrupted a poker game or something, as one squadron doesn?t show. The other is a little ticked that they fell for the ?you go ahead and scramble and we?ll be right behind you? line and decide to save their ammunition for later in the game.
Consequently, a broken Terminator unit remains untouched, leaving me with two potential formations on my side of the bridge, plus a nearly full strength tactical unit on the other side.
Also, my other Vulture unit decides to stay close to the baseline so that they are not accused of appearing too aggressive, should this effort not turn out for the best and there ends up being some sort of War Tribunal or something.
Turn 3
In what probably turned out to be the most futile move all game, I drop a company into the industrial complex in an attempt to contest the exit point on the road. Bad move. The rear most tactical unit moseys on over and blows me out of the buildings without hardly breaking a sweat. I think Brett was +12 on the roll for resolving the assault. Sigh?
The other tactical unit not wanting to be left out of all the fun, skips down to the river bank and using an impressive amount of automatic fire from across the river, strips the nearby forest of leaves, branches, squirrels, and a fair number of Elysians.
Also, in a display of tactical brilliance, Brett helps me figure out the best way to attack the scouts who are anchored on my side of the bridge, which I then promptly whiff on.
We look at all our stuff and where it is lined up and I have the entry point, Brett has the exit point, and we?ve got the bridge contested.
So, off to Turn 4 we go.
Turn 4
I don?t know why this turn seemed to take so long, as we were both starting to run out of units?well, maybe it was just me that was running out. Anyway, I attempted to assault the bridge again, bounced out of the assault, thus ensuring that my by now very small, supporting formations also break, leave me standing out in the wind.
Brett?s Predators shoot up a three stand unit holding my end of the road, causing me to loose that objective. The flyboys finish up their poker game and break the scouts on the bridge and although they do a decent amount of damage to the remaining tactical formation, it?s not enough to break them and so the Rainbow Warriors grab a victory by holding the bridge and the exit point. ?
After Action Report
Wow! What a cliff hanger!
So again, I saw the Elysians strike hard and apparently get off to a good start in the early stages of the game, only to see my advantage slowly slip away by the end. Oddly, I?m not disappointed with this behavior as I?m still getting the timing of attacks down, and the fact that the Elysians in no way operate anywhere near like my Tau,, means that I still have a way to go, when it comes to understanding how to best use them.
As you can see, these two armies traded blows back and forth all game long and I do take some comfort in the fact that a fourth turn was forced. However, what I really missed in looking back at my other games with the Elysians is the fact that I did not take any Valkyrie transported units this game and the lack of follow up mobility really hurt me in the latter turns.
Also, even though I failed some rather important rolls, I don?t think the dice ended up favoring one side or the other. There were times when we both had to look at each other and just smile because either somebody who really had to move didn?t, or the hits we were counting on to sustain our momentum either didn?t arrive or were saved. So, overall, I?d just have to say that they were a wash.
Once again, I did not use the Iron Discipline rule and in this game, I think it would have helped me a couple times, not with rallies, but in keeping units from breaking. So, eventually I?ll get that into my game plan. I think the heroes on my side were the Drop Sentinels. Even though they were all wiped out, their macro attacks really helped me hold off the terminators while I was working on getting my infantry into assault positions. If I hadn?t of taken them, I?m quite certain that the Terminators would have locked me up by the end of Turn 2.
So, I?ll go back to the drawing board as far at my list goes and do a re-think. The list is close to where I need it, but somehow I need to figure out a way to hit hard, keep mobile, strike unexpectedly, and defeat all serious threats when required?piece of cake.
Great game, Brett!
