I had a game against TRC a week ago on the fantastic tundra terrain give to us by Garben. Unfortunately the pictures I took were all over 2Mb, the maximum for loading up on the forums and I have not yet found a way to sort that out. So, here is a brief summary of the action (minus pictures )

Iyanden
455 4xWG + 2xWB + Wraith seer (black)
315 4xWG + WB (silver)
315 4xWG + WB (blue)
315 4xWG + WB (Red)
250 Storm Serpent
250 Storm Serpent
250 Falcons
250 Falcons
200 Vampire
150 Guardians
100 4x Ranger
100 4x Ranger
50 Gate

Imperial Guard (E-UK)
600 Mechanised HQ + Gryphons + Hydra
500 Mechanised Brigade + Gryphons + Hydra
275 Warhound
275 Warhound
250 Infantry brigade
250 Manticore Battery
250 Manticore Battery
200 Death Strikes
150 Thunderbolts
150 Hydra Flak Battery
100 Sentinels


Objectives

Blitz objectives placed centrally opposite each other, Iyanden T&H 60cm apart in the centre of the table with one IG objective forming a triangle between then and the other towards my left flank. The Central IG T&H was converted into the Wraithgate

Iyanden off table:-

Guardians in Vampire
WG+WB in Webway
WG+WB in Webway
WG+WB in Webway

Garrisons:-

Iyanden:- Rangers strung out across the centre of the table attempting to constrain the Warhounds from doubling and shooting Storm Serpents.
IG:- Infantry Company and sentinels oppose them

Deployment

Iyanden :- BTS placed centrally with a formation of Falcons and a Storm Serpent behind terrain to either side
IG :- Castle to the left of their Blitz surrounding the Deathstrikes

Summary of the game
The Iyanden got the initiative in the first turn and used the Vampire to fly by the Deathstrikes killing one and breaking the formation, but it was then intercepted by TBolts and shot down killing the on-board Guardians in the process. The three WG formations erupted out of the Webway around the centre of the table, mauling the garrisoned infantry company and destroying the sentinels and a Warhound that had just finished off a Storm Serpent. However once there with the BTS WG formation, they could not contain the various IG mobile elements which ultimately moved around the centre gaining Left hand T&H and Blitz, while contesting other objectives.
Result a IG 2-0 victory.

Comments
Losing the Guardians in the Vampire was needless, and might have allowed the BTS WG to defend the Blitz, but ultimately the remaining Eldar formations were fragile and killed off by Warhounds, artillery and air-power. Even so, in the last turn there was an 'epic' assault by the Avatar and a WG formation which defeated an intermingled mob of Mechanised Infantry company, Artillery Battery and remnants of a second (broken) infantry company, despite the presence of three commisars!

In this game, the '5' strong formations of WG really came into their own both in shooting and assaults - sadly they lacked both mobility and long-range striking power which was ultimately what lost the game. They also need to be near each other (but not necessarily in 'supporting distance') which tends to leave other parts of the table weakly defended if at all.

At the moment the lists I have been trying all tend to end up playing rather like Tyranid armies, rapidly dropping to infantry speed as they use up or lose their mobility. Enemy air and artillery, especially Disrupt, tend to break formations relatively easily which then usually fail to recover, dramatically reducing the army's fighting effectiveness to the point where there are three or four Fearless WG formations left occupying some part of the table whilst the enemy capture everywhere else with a degree of impunity.

To be fair, I have been relatively aggressive with the formations, mainly because to do otherwise risks the army stalling altogether (as in my game with Steve C). However, at the moment I am struggling to get the army to shine as the 'Wraith heavy' list that is apparently the intended direction.

Thanks Ginger

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Great find, many thanks.

Have edited the pictures, removing some of the background stuff and they now fit.
Will add them with brief commentaries. Sadly that does not alter the result.

A note on the incredible terrain that Garben gave to me (which I have passed on to TRC):-
Each board is 50cm square and has limited polymorphic capabilities, it can be added to different sides of some other pieces. This means that the terrain can be re-used in a number of different ways. However, as it is only 150cm x 100cm, this leaves a slight gap around the edge when compared with the usual 180cm x 120cm table. TRC and I agreed to deploy from the edge of the main table, meaning we could deploy up to 5cm onto the edges of this terrain.

The start of the game. Objectives are identified by yellow arrows, the IG are deployed at the top of the photo, the Iyanden at the bottom.
IG sentinels and Infantry company on OW are deployed just above the centre-line of the table, the two camouflaged Iyanden Ranger detachments on OW are dispersed along the centre line

End of Turn #1.
The RH IG Warhound is hungrily eyeing up the broken Storm serpent hiding behind the hill to the right of the Iyanden army, which has advanced to contest / control the two Iyanden T&H objectives above the centre-line.
The Falcons are sheltering behind the aircraft hanger which also houses the Wraithgate, having combined with a WG formation in destroying the IG LH Warhound which had crested a hill on the LH side of the table to wipe out the Storm Serpent on that side of the table.


End of turn Rallying and start of turn #2
Iyanden rally the Storm Serpent and both sets of Rangers (one broken marker not removed for the Photo), but fail to rally the important formations, the WG guarding the hanger and the LH Falcons on the baseline.
The IG fail to rally the mauled infantry company which has fallen back to the oil refinery in their centre, but do rally the remaining Deathstrike . . .


Turn #2
Iyanden initiative, the Storm Serpent and Wraithseer formation shoot and break the RH Warhound but fail to kill it, so it runs off to the windmill in the bottom RH corner of the table. With the Ranger Screen gone, the LH WG formation advances to shoot the LH Mounted infantry company, and is broken down to a single figure by the BTS Mounted infantry formation which had advanced to gain crossfire. Meanwhile the LH Mounted infantry followed the roads crossing the river twice to get around the LH flank of the Iyanden, where a lone very brave (or foolish) Ranger waits for them on OW. (The intention here was to fire at the start of the next turn and hope the IG failed their initiative test . . .)
The IG artillery, Deathstrike and TBolts made short work of the central Falcons, laying BMs on other WG formations



Turn #2 Rallying
The Iyanden Broken Falcons and both broken WG fail to rally, while all other formations except the Rangers remove their single BM
The IG Broken Infantry fail to rally, while the Warhound rallies to threaten the Blitz and the advanced Mounted infantry removes its BM.


Turn #3
The Avatar is summoned
Iyanden initiative, so the Avatar leads the WG that were on OW into a victorious assault on the advanced artillery, intermingled with both infantry companies although the WG is broken in the process.
However at this point it is clear that the IG have enough formations to take the LH T&H and Iyanden Blitz while defending their own Blitz and contesting the other objectives
(Hydra, Manticores, Warhound, advanced mounted infantry and TBolts left to activate . . . .)

Attachment:

IMG_0107 IF.jpg [ 1.58 MiB | Viewed 3280 times ]

Result, IG 2-0

It is, and I can only apologise for not taking more picturesque photos .

The terrain changes perspectives on E:A as a whole;
- camouflaged models are easily overlooked,
- it shapes movement in a way I have not previously seen with 'standard' wargames terrain
- the 'aerial' shots show the difficulty that aircraft would have acquiring ground targets, especially when they are trying to hide.

When he gave it to me, Garben said he was was less satisfied with this effort so I can only express curiosity over his more recent forays into battlefield terrain.

Thanks for the Batrep Ginger. Its a great looking table and I loved to see more pics of it next time.
What were your thoughts on the 1:2 Ratio? It seemed losing the Air assaulting Guardians also really put a dampener on things for you.

Mic

The 1:2 ratio helps considerably allowing the player to gain more activations. In my experience, Eldar work best when they can pick their battles, which usually means having more numbers so they can pick the right time to activate particular formations, and having sufficient mobility to achieve and exploit the results. This list with 11-12 activations allows the player some flexibility on activating key formations and the Vampire gives some mobility. It would also be possible to change one or both Storm Serpents into in-line transports for WG formations. Consequently I think this list is worth exploring further, as is the 1:2 ratio.

Leaving the Guardians on table or even entering through the Wraithgate, would have been a better option given the intention to sacrifice the Vampire to take out the Deathstrikes. It would have left me another formation to defend the Blitz (probably the Wraithseer), which might have delayed the end result a little. Against another opponent with less ability to kill the Storm Serpents, using the Vampire in an assault would be better, though it becomes a close call whether it is better with Guardians or Wraith formations. Either way, the list does afford greater flexibility.

Thanks for the response and I agree about the 1:2 ratio. Death strikes are always going to be a pain, not having a void spinner to simply deal with them means the Iyanden player has to be more creative.

Mic

Hi Guys

Another Batrep from a game I had last week. I apologise for the large photos and quality is questionable however I hope they give a decent idea of the flow of the game.

Steel Legion (NetEA Army Compendium v2014)

REGIMENTAL HQ [525]
Supreme Commander, 12 Infantry, 7 Chimera, 1 Sniper
TANK COMPANY [650]
10 Leman Russ
SUPER-HEAVY TANK COMPANY [500]
Shadowsword
ROUGH RIDER PLATOON [150]
6 Rough Riders
ROUGH RIDER PLATOON [150]
6 Rough Riders
DEATHSTRIKE MISSILE BATTERY [200]
2 Deathstrike Missile Launchers
FLAK BATTERY [150]
3 Hydra
THUNDERBOLT FIGHTERS [150]
2 Thunderbolts
WARHOUND TITAN [275]
ARTILLERY BATTERY [250]
3 Manticores





Iyanden Craftworld (4.2)

AVATAR [0]
WRAITHGATE [50]
SPIRIT WRAITHBLADE WARHOST [525]
4x Wraithblade units, 2 Wraithguard, 2 Wraithlord, Wraithseer
SPIRIT WRAITHBLADE WARHOST [375]
4x Wraithblade units, Spiritseer, 2 Wraithguard, Wraithlord
SPIRIT WRAITHGUARD WARHOST [275]
4x Wraithguard units, Spiritseer
ASPECT WARRIOR TROUPE [200]
4 Swooping Hawk, Exarch
RANGER TROUPE [100]
4 Ranger
RANGER TROUPE [100]
4 Ranger
SWORDS OF VAUL TROUPE [250]
4 Fire Prism, Fire Storm
NIGHT SPINNER TROUPE [175]
3x Night Spinner units
ENGINE OF VAUL TROUPE [650]
3 Storm Serpent (substituted in this game with 2 scorpions and a void spinner)
NIGHTWING INTERCEPTORS [300]
3x Nightwing Interceptors

Deployment

Deployment was as above in the photo with the Swooping Hawks teleporting and all Wraith Formations in the Webway.

Turn 1

Iyanden win the strategy roll and elect to activate first.

Iyanden- Night Wings activate and strafe the Death Strikes killing one and breaking the remaining which retreated under the Flak Battery’s umbrella.
Iyanden- Retaining the Storm Serpents tripled moved behind the stone pillars.
Steel Legion- The Manticores sustained with 2 launchers and covered all three Night spinners hitting 2. The night spinners managed to save both however were broken due to disrupt. A ranger stand from Ranger 2 was also hit however this hit was also saved. The Night Spinners fell back (forward actually) to the stone pillars where the Storm Serpents had already taken up residence.
Iyanden- Rangers 2 activate and Marshall moving forward and clearing both blast markers.
Steel Legion- With the Night Wing sitting just outside the Flak Battery’s umbrella they activate and go onto overwatch ensuring maximum return on the Night Wings.
Iyanden- Rangers 1 activate and march forward to cover in the centre of the table.
Steel Legion- Rough Rider 1 advance towards the centre of the table into a position to possibly engage Ranger 1 in following turns.
Iyanden- Swords of Vaul activate for a move fire move. They advanced to the right of the stone pillars fired on Rough Riders 1 killing 2 of them and placing 3 blast markers before skimming back behind the Storm Serpents and broken Night Spinners.
Steel Legion- Thunderbolts initially failed to activate but Steel Legion Supreme Commander threatened the lives of the pilots and subsequently they strafed the Night Spinners and failed to hit but destroyed a vehicle as they were already broken.
Steel Legion- Rough Riders 2 activated fanning out to form a screen against the Storm Serpents in front of the bulk of the steel legion armour.
Steel Legion- The Leman Russ tried to go on overwatch but failed to activate and they cleared the blast marker.
Steel Legion- Regimental HQ managed what the Leman Russ couldn’t and went to overwatch.
Steel Legion- The Shadowswords advanced and two of the super heavies got a bead on the fire prisims from the Swords of Vaul blowing one out of the air and placing 2 blast markers on the formation.
Steel Legion- The Warhound doubled forward to behind the small hill/stone pillar in the centre of the Rough Rider 2 screen.

Rally Phase

The Steel Legion Flak Battery neatly shot down 2 Night Wings as they flew from the table. After their chat with Supreme Commander the Thunderbolts evaded all the shots from the Fire Storm to return to base.

The Night Spinners and Death Strikes both failed to rally. Both the Rough Riders 1 and Swords of Vaul passed and clear all and 1 blast markers respectively.


Turn 2

The Swooping Hawks landed on the table in a forest on the Steel Legions extreme right flank in a position to engage the Rough Riders 2. They suffered no blast markers upon their arrival.


Steel Legion win strategy and elect to activate first.

Steel Legion- Rough Riders 2 sensing the purpose of the swooping hawks engage them. The stand of Rough Riders stumbles and falls as it made its way though the forest while two other stands made it into base to base contact. The following skirmish saw a single casualty on both sides but the Steel Legion had the best of it as the had the number advantage. After the dice off the Eldar were ahead by one destroying another stand of the horsemen and driving them back into the Steel Legion right hand corner of the table. The Swooping Hawks received their additional blast marker.
Steel Legion- Incensed by the defeat of the rough riders the warhound advanced and fired everything on the swooping hawks who were still lurking in the forest and annihilated the remainder of the formation.
Iyanden- With the screen in front of the steel legion armour now gone the Storm Serpents wasted no time in activating and doubling forward, carefully avoiding any overwatch fire on from the Regimental HQ, to set up in front of the Shadow Swords. They fired on the Flak Battery destroying two of them and breaking the remainder which fled over with Rough Rider 2.
Iyanden- The Wraithseers formation of Wraithblades retained and advanced from the Storm Serpents and fired on the Leman Russ with the attached Wraithguard and Wraithlords but failed to harm a single vehicle. 1 blast marker awarded.
Iyanden- With all the fire support set up the second Wraithblade formation double retained and engaged the Leman Russ from the Storm Serpents call intermingled on the Shadowswords and broken Death Strike as well. Despite the majority of eldar attacks hitting which was a considerable amount this was absorbed by the Shadowswords. One Shadowsword received 2 DC and the commissars vehicle received 1 DC, incredibly both vehicles received a critical exploding in the midst of the engagement. Despite hitting several units from the both sides the explosions only killed a further Wraithblade stand. The return attacks from the Shadowswords, Leman Russ and the Death Strike were below par with the number of hits they scored and failed to get through the eldar armour.
Supporting fire from the Steel legion now come in from both several stands from the regimental HQ and the manticores but they failed to get through the eldar armour.
The eldar supporting fire came in from the Storm Serpents and the Wraithseers formation and they managed to get a single penetrating hit on the remaining shadowsword…wait for it… that went critical.
Scores were added and dice thrown and the eldar win by 10! Destroying the Death Strike and all the Leman Russ except the Commissars tank which fled behind the Regimental HQ. Both the Manticores and Regimental HQ recived a blast marker each for their proximity to the engagement. Wraithblade 2 consolidated towards the Regimental HQ.

Steel Legion- Regimental HQ activated and sustain fired on Wraithblade 2 killing 3 stands of Wraithblades breaking the formation. The remnants of the formation fled towards the broken Flak Battery and Rough Riders 2.
Iyanden- Ranger 1 advance and fire on Rough Rider 1 killing one stand of the horsemen for 2 blast markers.
Steel Legion- Rough Riders tried to engage the Rangers that just fired at them however failed to activate.
Iyanden- The Swords of Vaul activate and double forward fire on the Manticores destroying 1 and breaking the remaining two who retreated back towards the Steel Legion Blitz.
Steel Legion- The Thunderbolts attempt to come in and finish of the still broken Night spinners however they failed to activate.
Iyanden- the remaining Night wing managed to activate and tried to take out the Leman Russ with the Commissar in it but missed.

Rally Phase
The Night Wing flew off without incident.
The Wraithblade 2 and Night Spinners failed to but all other eldar formations did.
All Steel Legion formations rallied except the Rough Riders in the far corner.


Turn 3

The Wraithseer summoned the Avatar in front of his position where he can assault the Regimental HQ.

Iyanden win strategy roll and elect to go first.

Iyanden- The Wraithseer’s Wraithblade formation double towards the Regimental headquaters firing on them with the attached Wraithgaurd and Wraithlord but fail to hit anything and place a single blast marker.
Iyanden- Retain with the Storm Serpents and double into position next to the Wraithblades and fire on the manticores destroying one and breaking the remaining machine which fled away from the area.
Iyanden- Wraithguard 1 try to double retain out of the Storm Serpent gate to engage the Regimental Headquaters but failed to activate so wore the single blast marker and single moved out towards the blitz.
Steel Legion- Regimental headquarters activated and sustained on the Storm Serpents managing 1 damage on two of the super heavies with neither going critical.
Steel Legion- Rough Riders 2 launched an assault against the Storm Serpent and despite the support from the Regimental HQ they were wiped out from the Iyanden supporting fire. A Storm Serpent took another damage but again no critical rolled. (Later we actually realised that this formation should have broken when it failed to activate last turn however we didn’t feel it would have changed the course of the game),
Iyanden- The Avatar launches a clipping assault on the Regimental HQ who are decimated from the support fire from the Wraithseers formation, the Storm Serpents and the Wraithguard with only the Steel Legion Supreme Commander and Commissar surviving.
Steel Legion- The Thunderbolts finally manage to kill the broken Night spinners after three turns of attempts.
Iyanden- The lone Night Wing managed to kill the commissar in the last Leman Russ to claim the BTS victory condition.
Steel Legion- The warhound advanced and missed all shots on the Swords of Vaul but left them with another blast marker.
Iyanden- The fire Prisims from the Swords of Vaul tried to activate to fire on the last of the hydras from the flak battery but failed to activate and cleared the blast markers.
Steel Legion- That Hydra then sustained fire on Wraithblade 2 killing 1 who were already broken.
Iyanden- Ranger 2 triple moved onto the objectives.

Rally
All flyers left the table without mishap.
All the eldar passed their rally except the Wraithblade 2 formation.
The steel legion remaining manticore and hydra both passed their rally however the Supreme Commander and both Rough Rider formations failed.


Result
Iyanden win 5-0

Thoughts
It was a strong game for the Iyanden. I have been giving the idea of how to deliver Wraith formations more effectively and wanted to try a large formation of Storm Serpents as this would offer a lot more resilience, however I acknowledge this is not without its own perils.

The 1:2 ratio felt really comfortable and I felt I could write a list I liked without compromising the Iyanden feel.

I was happy with the large formations of Wraithblades with both Wraithguard and Wraithlords attached. In this build and against Steel Legion they did really well. However Steve and I had a good chat about had he done things differently when he won the strategy roll in turn two he might have got a very different outcome.

The large engagement between the Shadow Swords, Leman Russ and Death Strikes and smaller Wraithblade formation supported by the Wraithseers Wraithblades and the Storm Serpents was massive and was where the game was won and lost. It has to be noted that the eldar managed only 4 damage across the 3 shadow swords and was extremely lucky to get a critical on all of them. We worked out had the not got any criticals then the eldar would have been up by 1 in the combat instead they went into the roll off with a plus 10 bonus.

Cheers

Mic

Thanks for the report. I agree that I all went the way of the Iyanden. I raised an eye brow about the first two activations of turn 2, but know how you can see things differently if you are just watching or even on the other side of the table.

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I agree Tim - a crazy report, but it did test some of the concepts


I agree that the large SS formation is worth considering, especially using the reduced pricing construct which makes it the cost of a pair of Revenants rather than a Phantom . It does become the prime target for enemy and it only takes a lucky strategy roll . . . . (IG should win 6 times in 36, which may be acceptable), but does mean you also need something to take out Deathstrikes.

That said, the IG seem to have a number of other toys that could have shot them after they had "taken up residence" behind the pillars, including the Manticores, TBolts and Warhound, quite apart from the LR tanks. Failing that, the Hydras should have used their OW (from turn #1) to shoot the SS as they advanced. (Note - I suspect that this was removed in error when firing at the NW as they disengaged . . . )

- All in all, the SS should not have got into position in the first place, and the game hinged on whether this strategy could be achieved or defeated.

I have to say that I also think the assault on a combined total of 20 RA units with a formation of 7 RA units was very 'courageous' bordering on the downright insane, especially as you entered the assault -3 for the inspiring commissars - but they do say that fortune favours the brave

I also note that Wraithblade 2 was subsequently broken and failed to recover (which seems to be the usual situation)

So in summary, a cracking win but you were definitely helped by the dice (and your opponent's tactics, omissions and deployment) - but that is all part of the game after all . . . .