Black Legion:

300 Assault Coy: Decimator, Desecrator
200 HellBlades
200 HellTalons

555 Chaos Terminatos (x4), DP (winged), Icon, Pact, 2x Oblits
475 Armoured Coy: 3xDefiler, 4x Vindicator, Stalker
265 6xRaptors, Pact
570 BL Ret, DP (Warlord), Icon, Pact, 2x Oblits, BTS
150 Forlorn Hope, Pact

240 Daemon Pool: 12x LD

2995 Points, 8 Activations

Eldar:

000 Avatar
050 Wraithgate

750 Phantom Titan (2xPulsar) BTS
150 Wraithship

200 Guardian Warhost (3xHWP + 3xSWP)
200 Guardian Warhost (3xHWP + 3xSWP)
200 Guardian Warhost (3xHWP + 3xSWP)

100 4xRangers
175 Nightspinners
175 Nightspinners
250 Falcon Troupe (2xFirestorm)
250 Falcon Troupe (2xFirestorm)
200 Windriders (4x Jetbikes, 2x Vypers)
200 Windriders (4x Jetbikes, 2x Vypers)

3000 points, 11+1+1 activations, one of them a  Battle Titan...



The Table, the red thingy is the BL BLitz

Setup:

BL wins roll and goes for classic setup, puts Blitz centrally into some rubble, T&Hs forward of that among the Farms. Eldar replace the more centrish one with a Wraithgate.

Eldar put Blitz in a patch of rubble in the leftern corner of the table, T&Hs well forward of that near some ruins and beyond that on the table edge.

BL stretches "garrison" from Blitz into the farms and within striking distance of the Ranger who have been put there. Forlorn Hope garrisons ruins.

Everyone goes on Overwatch.

Deployment:

BL hides its 3 remaining formations behind a ridge in front of the Blitz, Raptors in rubble there, covered form LoS by a large rock. Assault-Armoured Coy and Decimator will get cover save minimum before they move.

Eldar put the Phantom, Falcons and Artillery central, giving access to the entire field and good LoS, except behind the hills and farms.

Windriders deploy near the Eldar Blitz, within striking distance of the Forlorn Hope. With the Nightspinners next to them firing a supporting barrage, the CSM should be easy prey.



Shot of the table centre with all units deployed. Yes, there´s some proxies, namely Juggernaut-Bikers for the Raptors and a box of matches with a Cauldron of Blood riding it posing as a Decimator!



Now to randomizing hte Wraithship: I had determined 4 likely target spots before deploying, since the more central ones were obviously better picks it was 1= leftmost 2-3=centre-left  4-5 centre-right and 6 right. A 5 put the bombardment practically on top of the Decimator and would allow the Eldar to either target the Raptors or the Warlor´s retinue trail of units reaching back to the Blitz.

Oh joy...  

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!

Damnation! Got bluescreened when I was summing up the End Phase. An hours work seconds away from hitting the "Add Reply" button gone...

In short:

BL throw their plans to the wind when they teleport the C-Termies behind the Blitz-Guardians, were the Avatar then goes as well, Eldar win Ini, break the Termies with Nightspinners, which flee, Chaos Navy raises hell then on that flank, mauling the Blitzguardians and breaking the Windriders, centre sees the Warlord´s Ret break after Nightspinners and Orbital, Decimator goes critical after Phantom fires, Assault-Armoured took losses in Orbital, breaks when fails to activate, Raptors annihilate Guardians doubling out of the Gate. Rangers can´t hit barn from the inside. Nightspinners won this round for Eldar.

Worst round of rallying ever, none, not a single formation on either side makes it, BL down to Raptors, FH and air as activations, looking bad. At least the Avatar and Wraithship are spent.

Not sure whether I´ll have a go at T2 this evening, getting bluescreened was rather frustrating.

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!

Yeah, long posts should be written off-line in another programm first.

_________________
Light at the Horizon.

Warp Rift
Project Distant Darkness
Eldar MMS

GothiComp Hall of Fame
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=19176

Thanks guys. I´ll defininitely take heed and type in OpenOffice next time...

Gamewise, I had another look at the table earlier today and IMO BL could just make it if they win iniative and have the FH sustain on the 2nd Falcons, killing the Firestorms with some luck and having the Raptors engage the 1st Falcons, which could wipe these out with wven more luck.

This would save the Assault-Armoured in the BL rear from certain doom and bring down the activation count. If the 2nd Falcons are neutralized, the Eldar left flank would be at the mercy of the Chaos Navy which should be able to wipe out the Windriders and break the Blitz-Guardians.

Eldar situation is rather straightforward, use the Nightspinners to prevent just that, shift the 2nd Falcons to cover the left flank and fire on the broken C-Termies, 1st Falcons double towards the broken  Armoured-Assault, Phantom shoots up Raptors if they remain unbroken and moves to defend the BL T&Hs.

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!

On to T2!

Initiative: 4-5 Eldar (dang!)

Eldar activate rightish Nightspinners to Sustain on the Raptors ... and FAIL! Hold&Regroup, removing the BM.

Raptors now launch a daring intermingled Engage at the Rangers (primary target), the broken Windriders which have withdrawn there from the other flank into the safety of the Ranger-farm´s shadow and 4 Firestorms, and the Falcon Troupe which is too close to the Rangers as well.

3 Beasts are summoned and quickly cross the open ground to shred the Rangers, Raptors following closely. The fight is bloody, 2 Raptors and 2 Beasts die for 2 Rangers and a Falcon and Firestorm, but Chaos prevails with a margin of 1, killing another Ranger, breaking the Rangers and Falcon Troupe, wiping out the broken Windriders. Success beyond the wildest expectations...

The Forlorn Hope summons 4 Plaguebearers to bolster its numbers and sustains on the 2nd Falcons, getting them into a Crossfire by virtue of a single PB being within 45cm of the consolidated Raptors, but the lone hit is saved nonetheless (if it hadn´t been, the 2nd Falcons would have broken, they were carrying a BM from last turn´s Hold).

Eldar now Nightspinner the C-Termies, killing of the 2 remaining non-Fearless units, including the Icon.
Retaining, they advance the Phantom to better cover the center-rear with AA and pour Pulsar-fire into the Raptors, killing 3, breaking them and sending the sole survivor fleeing to the far right, within Engage range of the last Ranger in the BL-side ruins on the edge-hill.

The HellTalons, after repeated requests by the Warlord, bomb the Blitz-Guardians again, but fail to score any hits this time.

Eldar attempt to Marshall them, fail and break the formation, which redeploy-withdraws in the rubble around the Blitz.

BL sends in the HellBlades to wild-weasel the 2md Falcons (suppress AA), a single hit that would suffice is scored but saved.

2nd Falcons advance on the Armoured-Assault, autokilling a Vindicator.

End Phase:

BL rally Warlord´s Ret, Forlorn Hope, single Desecrator. C-Termies remain broken, now all-Fearless advance-withdraw on the Eldar Blitz. Armoured-Assault remains broken, too bad, as does single Raptor.

Eldar rally 1st and 2nd Falcons, but not Ranger and Blitz-Guardians.

HellBlades got firestormed on the wy out, but jinked the single hit. HellTalons were forced to exit over the enemy edge, picking up 2 BM for a total of 3 (HBs now 2BM)

SitRep:

The farms area around the BL T&Hs is now clear of units, with the Phantom and the Warlord´s Ret at opposing ends. BL left flank is in shambles, Eldar skimmer tanks have regrouped in the center and are ready to take the fight where they want. BL flyers are likely to stand down this turn.

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!

Might I suggest getting a Mac? ;-)

I´ll defininitely take heed and type in OpenOffice next time...

_________________
Guns don't break formations. Blast Markers break formations.

No way!

I´m being talked into going Linux, but you won´t see me running a Mac in this lifetime!


My machine is fine, it only fails me when I´ve spent hours on a labour of love...


Oh, and everyone, I´m update-editting the Turn-posts as events take place, so keep checking them!

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!

Turn 3

Initiative: 4-2 BL

The Warlord´s Retinue summons 3 Plaguebeares and Doubles deep into the Farms, claiming both objectives, the surviving Obliterator firing inefectively at the Phantom.

On the other flank, the Forlorn Hope summons the remaining 5 LD as Plaguebearers and Sustains on the nearest Nightspinners, missing them by a wide margin.

In response, the other Nightspinners Sustain on the Warlord´s Ret, killing the Oblit and placing 4BM.

The HellTalons stand down.

Eldar activate the 2nd Falcons, hoping to Double and claim both Eldar T&Hs, but can only Hold&Move, claiming but one.

HellBlades are commanded to eliminate the 2nd Nightspinners, but score no hits.

BL is out of activations.

2nd Nightspinners March to capture 2nd Eldar T&H, Windriders March out of the Wraithgate to captur Blitz, Phantom advances and shoots up Warlord´s Retinue, breaking it.

End Phase:

Eldar win 2-0 T&H, Blitz vs none. BL has suffered severe losses, Eldar are, but for the Rangers and annihilated Guardians, in good shape and would have been able to slaughter the remaing BL formations next turn. Basically only the flyers and FH were intact.

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!

Comments

I was very impressed by the Phantom, I thought it to be a clearly inferior choice to the Warlock but it definitely has its purpose, namely shooting up 3-4 enemy units per turn no matter what they are or where they are hiding. Add the unsuppressable AA-umbrella and what´s not to like?

BL greatly suffered by not winning the initiative in T1 and T2, the C-Termies would have carried the Blitz with ease, destroyed an activation and would have been hard to shift with daemonic assistance. Instead, they spend the game fleeing. A success at the Blitz would also have forced the Eldar to redeploy, instead they could focus on keeping BL away from the T&Hs near the Farms.

BL air started strongly, but was forced to plug gaps later on (the Hellblades especially), sheer luck prevented aircraft losses. The "forward arc" on the ´Blades permitted some skipping fire targetting the 2nd Falcons formation edge which resulted in only 1 Firestorm firing, I liked that very much as it helped mitigate their atrocious 15cm range.

Stalker and Descrator just got blown up, as did the Vindicators. Sadly, I´m having no luck with the Armoured-Assault, the low-save Vindies&Stalker are an AT magnet, I will consider adding a Land Raider or 4, though this will drive up costs considerably.

Maybe

150 2xLand Raider
200 4xVindicator
050 Stalker
225 3xDefiler
625

The cost of a Ravager, though this is a 10-strong formation...

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!

Linux?!?

A community effort to prove that a small group of dedicated enthusiasts can create a UI less usable than Windows.

_________________
Guns don't break formations. Blast Markers break formations.

I´ll comment on that when I get there!

Anyway, crushing defeat for BL, in a tourney the Eldar player could have pulled blows to win in a landslide after T4, basically wiping out BL forces.

Eldar didn´t even use the Wraithgate in T2 (forgot to), they won nonetheless.

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!

So was it the armour folding that caused the rout?

_________________
Guns don't break formations. Blast Markers break formations.

Again a most interesting Bat rep, with some thought provoking points. In summary it seems the BL lost the battle in the deployment and turn #1, but also due to some very extreme luck (almost as bad as mine!) both in breaking the BL retinue and other formations, and then failing to rally them – most unlike the BL armies I face.    

Objectives
I presume the BL won the toss over who placed objectives first, and put the Blitz centrally. Putting the Eldar Blitz and its T&H objectives on one side of the battlefield give the BL a dilemma over where to place its objectives, which seem to have been central end right side of the table – neither in cover. This allows the Eldar to put a ‘gate opposite the BL blitz and in the centre of the table which should give them a strategic advantage – and keeps the foot-slogging Guardians very much in the game. If the BL strategy is to occupy the Wraithgate, then it needs to be put into the farm to give the unit occupying it cover, and aim to do that in turn #2 rather than turn #1 when the bulk of Eldar forces can possibly concentrate on counter-attacking this threat.

Deployment
Turn #1, you describe the Eldar deployment without Guardians, but then describe the deployment of the C-Termies as being “behind the Blitz Guardiansâ€Â

_________________
"Play up and play the game"

Vitai lampada
Sir Hemry Newbolt

There was indeed a lot of bad luck involved!

Re: Objectives:

BL won. Eldar placed the Objectives as described, I´ll fix the photo links so that you can get a clearer picture of the battlefield. BL very much tried to overrun the Farms area and block the gate, but failed to do so when the Wraithship broke the Warlord´s Ret.

Re: Deployment

The 2nd shot in the first post should clear this up somewhat, left-to-rightthe yellow blobs are the edge of the Windriders (BlitzGuardians further left out of sight), 2nd  Nightspinners, 2nd Falcons, Phantom, 1st Falcons, 1st Nightspinners, with Rangers and the Warlord´s facing off near the Wraithgate (unpainted gate on the red objective thingy). 2nd T&H would be just out of sight to the right

Re: C-Termies

A picture says more that a 1000 words:



The Eldar Blitz was practically under the Angron-DP, removed for the purposes of this dramatization shot I set up. Handy not to have the clear the table after games!


The 2 large rocks on either side of the rubble connecting with the table edge block LoS, the small ones don´t. We rule that everything within an area of rubble marked by the smaller rocks is in 5+ cover, dangerous to AVs and WEs. Teleporting and winning would have made the Terminators impossible to shift, if the Eldar tried they would not have been able to defend the Gate 2/3s of a table away. The Forlorn Hope could have moved into the Blitzrubble and given the C-Termies free reign to occupy the hill+ruins seen to the left of the 2nd Nightspinners on the deployment shot, where the Oblits would enjoy excellent LoS, forcing the Phantom to avoid the general area.

It could have worked.

Retinue and other formations

They bunched up behind the only cover that spared them the attention of the 2 Falcon Troupes and Phantom. IMO this was pretty unavoidable, practically everywhere else the Phantom would have been able to shoot the Decimator at once. The Retinue broke through bad luck, first a full hit by the Nightspinners and then losing both CSM covered by the bombardment.

Switching the FH and Ret might have been an idea, however, there was a lot of dead ground between the Eldar T&Hs and their Blitz, the FH could barely avoid bunching up too much and they are Scouts and only 4-strong.


Edit: I´ll definitely try to get more pictures in the future, however the cam is somewhat shaky and I have only recently found out how to take pictures with it at all again, plus the Macro function sucks.

_________________
Visit www.epic-battles.de the ultimate german epic site&forum!