NetEA Dark Eldar 2017 Vs Biel-Tan V4.2

This was a two fold batrep where we were wanting to see how the new Dark eldar plays plus see how the new "trial" farsight rule effects the Biel-Tan.
A few of the photos are a bit grainy, as I wasn't really checking them after I took them, so sorry.

Dave ran
Coterie + Barge - 350
Flotilla, Ravager, Dracon- 325
Flotilla, Ravager, Dracon- 325
Syndicate - 200
Vessel of Pain (1) - 250
Vessel of Pain (2) - 250
Vessel of Pain (3) - 250
Mandrakes - 200
Reavers - 200
Haemonculi Coven - 250
Razorwing (1) - 200
Razorwing (2) - 200


While I ran
Avatar- 0
Aspect- Autarch, Exarch, 3 Scorpions, 3 Dire and 2 Fire Dragons- 400
Gaurdians (1) -Wave serpents, 1 heavy weapon- 350
Gaurdians (2) - 2 heavy weapons -150
Ranger-100
5 Ranger -125
SOV- 2 Fire Storms -250
SOV- 2 Fire Storms -250
Scorpion- 250
Void Spinner - 275
Vampire -200
Revs - 650


The Table


The BT played a refused flank setting up heavily on their right flank. The DE eldar set up across their deployment with the Flotilla 1, Haemonc and VOP1 across from the bulk of the BT, with VOP 2 &3 centre field with Flotilla 2. The Coterie held the blitz and the syndicate and reavers rolled down the open flank.




BT win the roll to choose sides and sets the game across the table.

Turn 1
DE- Win Strat roll
DE- Razirwing 1 go to CAP
BT - Scorps advances and pops up to fire on the Haemonculi coven who were mounted destroying two Raiders and along with 3 Wracks and a Haemonculi breaking the formation.
BT - Void Spinner retains sustaining on Flotilla 1 hitting 2 destroying 1 for 3 BM.
DE - Reavers double forward
BT - SOV 1 double and fire on Flotilla 1 scoring 5 hits and killing only 1 but breaks the formation who retreat behind some ruins.
DE - VOP 1 advances firing on SOV 1 killing 1 for 2 BM.
BT - Rangers 1 continue their overwatch
DE - Sydicate doubles forward towards ruins in the centre of the table.
BT - Ranger 2 fail to continue their overwatch.
DE - Coterie double and swap into the barge and remain on the blitz.
BT - Guardians (1) double and fire on the haemoc killing the wrack and the raider does from BM.
DE - VOP 2 advances killing 2 falcons from SOV 1 breaking the formation.
BT- Doubles forward fires on VOP 1 stripping a shield with a missile launcher and then misses all 8 pulsar shots due to the shadow field! 1BM
DE- Flotilla 2 doubles and fire on the Revs in the ruins for no hits, 1 BM.
BT - Guardian 2 triple forward to centre ruins.
DE- VOP 3 doubles and fires on Revs in ruins, no hits 1Bm.
BT - SOV 2 doubles and fires on Flotilla 2 for only one hit which is promptly saved 1 BM.
DE - Razorwing 2 attack the Void Spinner evading fire from two Fire Storms, 1 Bm, then fail to hit the Void spinner, 1 BM.
BT - Vamps/Aspects come in to try and destroy the incubi guarding the blitz who are all aboard the barge. Razorwing 1 who was on cap promptly come in a shoot the Vamps down with 3 hits and no saves.
Vampire Destroyed


Flyers all fly off, Raz 2 fly of BT edge.

Rally
Do- Revs, Ranger 2, Flotilla 1, SOV 1, VS
Don't - VOP1, Haemoc
End of turn 1


Turn 2
The avatar joins the main battle. Alot is set for who wins Strategy roll.


The avatar is summoned in the centre of the table by the farseer with the wave serpents.
The mandrakes show up near the Void spinner ready to wreck the super heavy and take the blitz but take 2 BM on their way in.

BT - win the strat roll.
BT - the Revs sustain (rolled a 2 they had 1 BM) and delete Flotilla 2
BT- Avatar retains (rolls 4) and engages VOP1 as it still had a BM. 3 hits and two DC which goes crit and wrecks the VOP. the VOP does 1 damage in return which didnt crit.
BT - VS retains and fails on a roll of 3! (would have passed before new rule) however wears the BM and fires on the mandrakes which are about to assault it. scoring 3 disrupt hits and kills the 3 and breaks them.
DE - VOP3 advances and fires on SOV2 killing 1 falcon for 2 BM.
BT- Scorps advances and fires on flotilla 2 killing 1 and breaking them.
DE - VOP2 advances and fires on SOV 2 killing another falcon and breaking the formation.
BT- SOV 1 marshall and advance into a postion to provide better AA clearing the 1 BM.
DE- Razorwing 2 attack guardians 2 scoring 2 disrupt hits, kill 1, 3 BM.
BT- Ranger 2 fail and wear the BM firing on the mandrakes killing another from the BM.
DE- Corteire double and spread out across the raiders and Barge.
BT- Ranger 1 fail and clear BM.
DE- Razorwing 1 attack guardian 2 killing 1, 2 BM.
BT-Guardian 2 marshall clearing all BM.
DE- Reavers advance into a long range assault position on Ranger 1
BT- Gaurdian 1 fail to engage VOP2 and wear the BM and move forward.
DE- the Syndicate double setting a nice crossfire on gaurdian 1 with VOP 2 and 3. The 3 lance shots all hit on 6 wrecking 3 wave serpents and also another guardian stand for 7 BM which is just enough to break the formation. They retreat back towards the ruins they just moved from earlier that turn.
The Syndicate set up a great crossfire and roll some good dice to break the untouched guardians in wave serpents!


Both Razorwing flights are shot at by 2 Fire storms for no hits! 1 BM each flight.

Rally
Do- Gaurdians 1 , Revs, Flotilla 1 Void spinner, Ranger 2
Don't -SOV1, Mandrakes
End of turn 2


Turn 3
DE- win strat
DE- Syndicate fire on Gaurdian 2 killing 2 for 3BM before moving away to hold a objective.
DE- VOP2 retains failing to activate despite the SC reroll, moves away.
BT- Void spinner sustains on the reavers killing 3 and breaking the formation.
DE- VOP3 advances shooting SOV 2 for no hits 1 BM.
BT - Ranger 1 triple onto the far objective creating a perimeter around it in the ruins.
DE- Razorwing 1 attack ranger 1 but fail to hit, 1 BM.
BT- SOV 2 advoce towards contested objective and fire on the lone haemonc breaking it.
DE- Razorwing 2 fail to activate.
BT- guardian 2 marshall moving onto the objective to secure DTF and clear all BM.
DE- Flotilla 2 double towards Ranger 1 trying to clear a gap to the objective bit fail to hit, 1 BM.
BT- Ranger 2 double forward towards objectives putting a BM on VOP3.
DE- Corteire double forward and fire on Ranger 1 in the ruins for no hits 1 BM.
BT- Scorp advances onto objectives and fires on the syndicate contesting an objective killing two loaded raiders and the troops inside breaking the formation.
BT- Revs advance to hold 2 objectives firing on VOP3 in crossfire with 3 BT formations and wrecks it.

Razorwing 1 flys off

Rally
Do- Mandarkes, VOP2, Syndicate, Guardian 1, SOV 1
Don't- Haemonc, Reavers, Flotilla 1, SOV 2
End of turn 3, horrible pic and the second is not much better.




Result
Biel-Tan win 2-0 (DTF & T&H)

I will post some thoughts tomorrow after some sleep...

Thanks for the report.

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www.epic-uk.co.uk - home of the UK Epic tournament scene
NetEA NetERC Xenos Lists Chair
NetEA Ork + Feral Ork + Speed Freak Champion

Thanks for the report and also appreciate the test run on the far-sight rule..Looking forward to your thoughts on the change..

_________________
Regards
Greg

*************************************************

Not against change, so long as it done fairly and no one is left behind....

I'm human and not a !@#$%^# Robot..

Looks like you got a bit of razor burn Mic!
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!
Thanks for the write up and the game. Good stuff Mic and Dave!
Cheers
Jim

Good game and nice writeup.
Waiting for your analysis with interest.

Hi

Thanks guys. regarding the Dark eldar list, I quiet like it. Despite the VOP not having a huge impact in this game due to some below average dice I see a real potential in them to fulfill a niche role within the dark eldar list. Their shadow field certain impacted the first round of shooting from the revs after they doubled and managed no hits with the pulsars!
Seeing the Corterie in their vehicles (BTS) camped back field on the dark eldar Blitz proved to much of a temptation and I sent the aspect filled vampire at them to try and trap them in for an assault. Highly risky but the BT would have essentially won the game at that point. The Razorwing actually only scored the 2 lance hits which the vamps failed both saves. Despite the loss of the aspects the BT still managed to get ascendancy over their right flank. The air truly belonged to the dark eldar and despite 12 fire storm shots at the razorwing and not a single hit was managed. Dave pulled off a fantastic crossfire fire in turn 2 with the 200 pt warrior syndicate doubling and shooting the untouched guardians in wave serpents which broke them!
Other than the Vampire getting blown away to save the corterie and blitz the most important role of the game was the role for Strategy turn 2. Both sides had over half their force poised for either an assault or a sustained fire. BT won this roll and the double retain came into effect. The DE lost 2 full formations and had another mauled and broken which was huge. Now I recorded what activated and what each rolled. The revs went first (they were carrying a single BM) and activated on a roll of 2, the Avatar then retained and rolled a 4. Both deleted a DE formation. Now the void spinner was the double retain and rolled a 3, now this would have passed previously but not now. However in this instance the Void Spinner wore the single BM and fired on the mandrakes that were about to assault it which worked out quiet lucky for the void spinner. Had the Mandrakes not been there the void spinner would have had no target and been wasted.

In conclusion, my initial thoughts on the dark eldar list is that I like what Jims doing with it and see a load of potential there. I also like my first trial of the new farsight rule. I am interested to see what others think.

Thanks again to Dave for the game! I know he had a nail biter of a game against the EC afterwards that got the uncommon result of 3-2! (How often do you see both sides qualify for the win)

Cheers

Mic

Thank Mic..I was hoping to get a game in last night, to test the Farsight change, but not to be, so will see how Fridays looking, for a game....

_________________
Regards
Greg

*************************************************

Not against change, so long as it done fairly and no one is left behind....

I'm human and not a !@#$%^# Robot..

Talk about leaving them wanting more. I now want to know what happened in that game.

Thanks again for the feedback. I feel that the change, if it is made, will only really highlight when players are having good dice or not. But we will see.

_________________
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www.epic-uk.co.uk - home of the UK Epic tournament scene
NetEA NetERC Xenos Lists Chair
NetEA Ork + Feral Ork + Speed Freak Champion

Thanks for the report, agree that this time th spinner got lucky failing. Normally this is a risk, even more so with the new rule, but with a target in direct fire range I would have been happy to take it. That's not usual for a void spinner (or indeed eldar support formations in general - more often than not they're hiding behind cover).

Not sure the guardian 1 crossfire situation matched the description? 4 kills + 1 coming under fire + 1 crossfire = 6 + 1 for the failed activation = 7, but there are 8 units left.

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Kyrt's trade list

Hey Kyrt,

Yeah that was my assessment of the double retain and the void spinner also.
Regarding the crossfire from the Syndicate on Guardian 1, they could draw a line on both VOP 2 and VOP 3 which resulted in an extra 2 BM from the crossfire. Dave and I both had a good laugh at brilliant result of this move from the Syndicate. The 3 lance hits hitting on 6s helped too

Tim, I believe in Dave's second game against the EC, they both killed each other's BTS and took each other's Blitz. Kenny or Dave might have to chime in for more details.
Cheers

Mic

There did not seem to be much assaulting. The DE could have had the Reavers or another formation triple up to say the rangers or guardians, retained and then engaged with the incubi. Some units are built for engagements, other for fire support. Also the DE player did not shoot the revenants They get their shield even in close combat, so best to shoot at them with the MW TK1 weapons, hope the Eldar fail the saves, and then try to roll a 6 for the crit.

I was planning at some stage to test the following list on a Iyanden or Biel-Tan list

50 Points
50 – Portable Wraithgate
925 Points
375 – Coterie – Archon, 6 Incubi Unit, 2 Raiders, 2 Venoms
225 – Flotilla – 4 Ravagers
225 – Flotilla – 4 Ravagers
1125 Points
250 – Reavers – Sucubus, 6 Reaver Units
250 – Reavers – Sucubus, 6 Reaver Units
300 – Wyches – Sucubus , 6 Wych Units, 1 Raider, 4 Venoms
325 – Talos - 5 Talos
900 points
500 – Tormentor Titan – 1 Tormentor Titan (BTS)
200 – Razorwings – 2 Razorwing fighters
200 – Razorwings – 2 Razorwing fighters


I like a few things about this list. The Titan has ground based AA, very good at CC, and also good a ranged shooting. The Ravagers are OK and as usual a glass hammer. The portable wraithgate can be used by the Archon or any of the Succubus. Secretly designate who has it, and then spring it on the enemy, and once thrown, send in the Talos.

The Razorwings are good AA/CAP/Intercept, and can also help kill off broken enemy units. The Wyches and Incubi are great a close combat, and the use of the venoms gives them more AP and spreads the units out so losses are reduced.

No barges of Pleasure but I have tried that Spam list already - only 8 activations, and Eldar get to triple activate.

The general tactic is to advance, overwhelm the enemy and close assault them, shooting the enemy with your supporting units like ravagers or the wyches. Have more forces in the assault than the enemy, and once you have finished, withdraw to a position near another vulnerable enemy. Keep shooting the enemy with the Titan unless you can assault. It really does a lot of damage in assaults.

Nice report by the way. I have learnt a few things about using DE since I started. I used to shoot as much as possible, avoid letting the enemy seeing me, until I was ready to send in 2 or more formations to shoot another formation up, and use the reavers to grab objectives. This did not work well. Since then I have assaulted more, which the portable wraithgate helps with, used my jetbikes to assist in engagements. I use the Ravagers as a mobile weapons platform, but also to soften he enemy up before I assault (the extra blast markers help in the end. I add leaders, especially inspiring leaders to formations where I can, to help in engagements and to remove BM.

I also tend to keep my VOP near my flotillas, or each other, and use them as a mobile front, shooting everything they can. I like to use cover still, but pop-up, and use the move shoot move ability a fair bit. If needed I also sustain to ensure the maximum amount of shot hit the enemy (before assaulting with another formation).

Sorry I could not make it this month to Newcastle. I still have more bills to pay, and can not even place any mini orders for a while (sits shaking uncontrollably in corner while making up lists of what she wants to order from her favourite epic mini suppliers).

Yes this is the list I made up the next 2 months, and I can not order a thing.

£6.00 1 x Stygian Gargoyles (Scourges)
£24.00 4 x Stygian Ghast AC (Reaver Jetbikes)
£6.00 1 x Stygian Phantom Guard
£12.00 2 x Stygian Vampire Gliders
£21.00 3 x Stygian Parasite Rigs
£6.00 1 x Stygian Butchers
£18.00 3 x Stygian Hunters
£93.00


£6.00 1 x Sisterhood Athena Defender Squad
£18.00 3 x Sisterhood Hecate Squad
£24.00 4 x Sisterhood Themis Squad
£12.00 2 x Sisterhood Command Squad
£6.00 1 x Sisterhood Vitrus Squad
£6.00 1 x Hellborn Gore Maidens
£72.00


Keep the reports coming

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6mm wargaming is just like 25mm wargaming with more units fitting on the same size table. Thus bigger games to get lost in and avoid the hassles of everyday living, and offerings for the dice gods.

Don't mean to dwell on it, but what do you mean? You just get 2 BMs for the first kill, rather than 1.

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Hey Kyrt

Good catch mate, it only should have been 6 Blasties instead of 7.

Cheers

Mic

Read up the the last and second last paragraph of the crossfire rules, cut and pasted here from the NetEA tournament pack rules - Crossfire section on page 19. I had to look it up myself to realize this. So I am no expert myself. From reading the rules I have worked out that you do not get an extra Blast markers for each formation that causes the firing formation to get a crossfire bonus. Once a crossfire bonus is ascertained, the first unit lost causes one additional BM only.

However if both Vessels of Pain were the firing units and the Syndicate was the reason for the crossfire bonus, then units lost from weapons fire from each VOP would cause an additional BM from the first unit lost from their respective attacks. If the Syndicate was the firing formation, then the second VOP that cold allow a crossfire to occur, would not allow a third BM.

Text from rules

In addition, a formation caught in a crossfire attack receives two
Blast markers for the first unit destroyed by the attack, rather
than just one Blast marker for the destroyed unit as would
usually be the case (see 1.9.4).
Note that a formation attacked by several enemy formations,
each of which can claim a crossfire, will receive the extra Blast
marker from each enemy formation that inflicts one or more
casualties.

_________________
6mm wargaming is just like 25mm wargaming with more units fitting on the same size table. Thus bigger games to get lost in and avoid the hassles of everyday living, and offerings for the dice gods.

Finally got access...

I think there's a slip of BT - Guardian squad designation - sorry I didn't pick this up Mic.
Kyrt - while you are absolutely correct that we miss-counted the BMs, the squad already had one on it for failing to activate to engage the VoP. Report just switched the designations between Guard1 and 2. The other Guardian squad was busy getting hosed by the Ravens, but was the one that marshalled. You can see Mic's cool smoke marker BM behind the guardians.

Deb - there wasn't much assaulting because Mic broke all my assault units (except the BTS) before they could start with the biff. He trashed the haemonc unit in his first shot of the game, and the survivors never got back into it

In regards to the game vs the EC, no bat rep or pics as I had a long drive home so we just got stuck in.
Half of Kenny's army came down from the spaceship. I'd not experienced this before, so I lost a turn of momentum stressing about where they'd land and prepping for that when I should have kicked the stuffing out of what was on table. Lesson learnt.
Barrage was totally not a problem as the DE are fast enough, I just didn't deploy anywhere near the obvious targets. Once again I didn't get to test the haemonc as they got shot to bits, but the mandrakes did help clean Kenny's BTS off his blitz at the eleventh hour. Sadly it wasn't enough to save the game.

I'm enjoying the way Jim's moving the list, really hope to get the fighty units into combat for some testing in my next game. Kinda sick of just taking the off
Warriors will be in every list I write, they are so solid (from a fragile DE perspective) for a versatile objective grab or quick dash to contest it.

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I know how this one ends
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