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While everyone waits for the video battle report, here a flavour of the action;
3,000 points is waaaay too low to play this scenario with the Squats. The scenario forces you to take at least 4 companies but this means you can't get your hands on any of that lovely firepower (ie Land Train or Colossi)! I started off with the Iron Breaker Company*, Iron Eagle Gyrocopter Wing, and a Thunderer detachment. The Eldar started with a Spirit Host, Grav Tank Host & support cards in the form of Swooping Hawks, Striking Scorpions & Howling Banshees.
Turn 1: There was very little action, everything was all about moving units into position.
Turn 2: I was lucky enough to roll to get my Goliath Superheavy Artillery Battery, but that was where the luck ended... I was far too hasty with my Gyrocopters and lost every single 'copter on the board! 2 mistakes I made; I moved them too far up the board (damn my memory, the strategy guide says to play Squats defensively I went and did the opposite!) and I should have hid them behind woods/buildings. Worse still I forgot all about snap fire (though we were both guilty of this)! Maybe a few deaths could have prevented this slaughter had I remembered this. Bear in mind though that this is me trying to break the habit of playing one way for 18 odd years...
Turn 3: My Thunderers, who were defending an objective have very little to fire at. Fortunately their only feasible target is the Spirit Host's Warlock who is exposed while all Wraithguard & Dreadnaughts are hidden in woods holding 2 objectives. The overkill of 15 missile launchers on one stand rather pleasingly renders the Spirit Host obsolete for the rest of the game (there were no living units anywhere remotely near them to give them orders). Sadly though I have no infantry available to go in to attack these woods so they do serve some purpose... Things then went from bad to worse for the Squats, as the Howling Banshees and Scorpions easily tore apart 2 Beserker Squads who were defending one of my objectives based in woods.
Turn 4: The Grand Warlord arrives. Big deal. He's a complete irrelevance for the rest of the game. The Wind Rider Host turns up and goes on a bit of a suicide mission by misjudging the distance that my Leviathan lies from them. Combat troops shoot several down and my Goliath's make their main contribution to the game, wiping out quite a few exposed jet bikes. The Grav-Tank Host are also broken. Maybe things are on the up for the Squats?
Turn 5: ...No chance! Scorpions and Banshees pile in to my combat troops turning them into a rather hairy pate. A bunch of bikes attack my Leviathan (only after the fact do I learn that bikes do NOT get cumulative dice against Leviathans). They don't do much though, other than die and half the CAF of the Praetorian. My newly arrived Guild-Biker Company arrives and gets stuck into those jet-bikes. At this stage I seem to have acquired the worst dice known to man, every single close-combat roll is woeful. Honestly, I don't think I rolled higher than 6 in about 10 encounters. Even my nephew is incredulous (but inwardly delighted I'm sure) at my dice rolls! The newly arrived Tempest Host really doesn't do much for the entire game. There really aren't many targets left on the board!
Turn 6: The Eldar avatar sets about my Leviathan in close combat. The bridge is destroyed and my last piece of decent firepower is gone. The Iron Breaker Company finally breaks as just about everyone has been killed. There is a little satisfaction for the Squats in that the Wind Rider Host are broken.
Turn 7: The Goliaths are broken as are the Guild Bikers who have engaged in a mad dash to steal objectives. It works, but then 2 others are lost. The game ends with one objective disputed, 3 in Squat hands & 4 for the Eldar. 55VPs to 32 is the horrific scoreline. I feel as broken as all of my units!
Lessons learned: Defend, defend, defend with Squats! Remember to snap fire! Cavalry can't gang up on Leviathans! Squat infantry - with the exception of the poorly deployed Thunderers - are hopeless. The aspect warriors just cut through the Squat infantry like a Sith Lord through "Younglings". This is a good scenario, but not for Squats when the battle is fought with such a limited points cost (but I'm sure the designer expected it to be fought for higher points cost).
One little aside about the rules; this is my second time using the hit templates for a Leviathan. I always used the 1+ save roll before that. I always thought that was a little too brittle for a unit of such a size, but now I think it is too hard to destroy these vehicles. It seems a bit easier to take out a Titan than a Leviathan (there seem to be more hit locations that can destroy a Titan outright), when you compare the costs of the respective units, that can't be fair, can it?
*I noticed that in the Net Epic Gold army lists it doesn't point out that there are 2 Beserker units included, it seems to indicate that there is only one. Maybe I haven't downloaded the definitive edition though.
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