Craftworld Etruria - Storm Guardians!

[Urkh]

So, I've now played two games of 10th with my eldar. One was a 755 point game against my cousin's Tau (he didnt have the combat patrol, so we used what minis he had and i built an equally sized force), and the other was a combat patrol game vs my friend's tyranids.

 

In the game against my cousin, I took

 

Defenders lead by a Farseer

Defenders on their own

5 dire avengers

Fire prism

5 wraithguard with wraith cannons lead by a spiritseer.

 

He had

 

One strike squad lead by a fireblade

Two breacher squads

Longstrike hammerhead

10 kroot squad from the killteam.

 

The wraiths ended up fighting the kroot, as he wanted to use some precision ability to try and kill the spiritseer. He brought it down to 1 wound, and I made sure he survived using my fate dice. The wraiths wiped the kroot.

 

The farseer defender squad moved up to capture a forward objective. His power was used on the Defenders because they needed to survive against the s5 guns of the fire warriors. They did, and in return the fire warriors were killed. The fire prism blasted the strike squad with the fireblade, killing most of the squad. Wraiths moved towards the remaining breacher squad. 

 

Since most things were in combat or blocked off from LoS, he wasn't able to have a very effective turn. He tried killing some wraiths using all his tricks, but the T7 and the armor saves made them too much for him to handle. The hammerhead was ineffectual against the fire prism. Other shooting killed the Defenders by the avengers, but the avengers were still holding the objective.

 

After another turn of my prism harassing his strike squad, and wraiths and dire avengers wrecking his breachers, he decided to call it a victory for the eldar!

 

 

game 2 vs tyranids in combat patrol

 

We played mission five: sweep and clear. I was defender, and I went second. I put the Defenders with farseer on my home objective in the northeast corner, and they did not move all game it was LoS blocked by a strategically placed ruin, so they were safe for a while. My two squads of jetbikes were to flank the two edges. My wraithlord was by the Defenders, and I was going to push him up the center with all his T11 2+ save glory. 

 

His barbgaunts and a unit of termagants were placed on his home objective in the southeast corner. Just north of them were the Von Ryan's Leapers and the psychophage, as the psychophage actually was forced to run through the middle due to ruin positioning. A nice hill was in the center of the board, blocking LoS, however, so it wasn't too bad. North of them, near the north objective in NML, were the flying prime and the second unit of terms. 

 

Now, for what actually happened.

 

My buddy got first turn, and advanced his entire army forward. He said he really just wanted to kill all my guys. Knowing this, I decided it would be my job to keep as many people alive as possible, and this would become a major use of fate dice late in the game. The 'phage and both the south gaunt squads went down the center, with the VRL's taking the south, and the first and last both got 6" advances and made it to the center of the board. The prime and gaunts with him just hugged the ruin wall that had the northern NML objective on the other side. He was within  3", so he had control.

 

I roll a 4 for the farseers ability and give it to my south bikers. I roll a 3 for my defender fate die. I moved my wraithlord up the center and got LoS on the phage (I couldn't with anything else that would matter though). The jetbikes zoom down the board and get sights on the VRL's and the termagaunts in the center. Defenders stay with the farseer on the objective. I have to use a command reroll and a fated 6 for damage, but I got the phage down to 4 wounds left after its FNP blocked two of the damage. The jetbikes shoot at their targets, leaving a VRL at 1w and killing 4 terms. I use the strategem to move both my bike units 6" to get them to what I thought was safety...

 

The VRL's and the phage can move! As a result, both of them charged my South windrider squad, which after taking shooting attacks and melee, I used fate to guarantee at least one lived. I also had to use a fated 4 to ensure the other squad had a surviving man from combined termagaunt and barbgaunt fire. 

 

On my turn, roll a 2 for my farseer ability and put it on the guardian squad. I rolled a 3 for defender fate. I pass the battleshock tests.for both of my jetbikes. Then he shadowed. My elves stood firm, as only the north jetbike failed his morale check. It was his destiny, as he was the only unpainted eldar mini on the board. Both jetbikes fall back out of combat, and my north bike passes his deadly escape test. He retreats to behind the ruins where the guardians are but has LoS on the phage, who is angry since the other bike just took off and rounded a corner where I knew my buddy couldn't physically see him, so he would forget the bike was there. My wraithlord positions himself to charge the termigaunts on the center hill while firing on the phage. 

 

I would say the psychophage refused to die, but in reality, my entire army was unable to do anything to it. Everything missed. I only had 3's and 2's left on my fates, and I needed soooo many 4's... So now, knowing I have to kill this thing, have my wraithlord charge it instead of the gaunts. Long story short, I finally killed it. But the consequences? 

 

The termigaunts and VRL's leap forward towards my guardians. The other terms and barbs now occupy the center hill in a commanding position. The prime reveals himself and sticks himself in a place where he can start cleanup next turn. 

 

I fire overwatch on the VRL's, using my enhancement to make it 0CP and hit on 4's, since I control my home objective. We manage to kill two of them, leaving only one left on full wounds. I take the termigaunts shooting wounds on the weapons platform, and it dies, but my guardians are still 10 strong. He remembers he has a strategem that lets him revive termigaunts, and gets 4 gaunts added back to the squad that is in front of my defenders. He asks where he is allowed to place them, and I told him he should place them in the front to close the charge distance between his gaunts and my Defenders. He was really excited to be able to do that!

 

He charges the guardians with both squads, being able to get the VRL onto the objective, and many gaunts in base to base. I use my strategem to make my unit -1 to be hit, making them -1 to be hit and wounded this combat because of rhe farseer. Two guys die from the VRL, but no one else. 

 

On my turn, both my bikes pass battleshock, I roll a 5 for farseer and put it on guardians, and another 3 for fate. I move south jetbike onto my buddy's home objective, which has been abandoned. (And I am now just remembering I forgot that objectives are sticky in combat patrol, huh?) Either way, my jetbike was on the objective, and I had the secondary for ending the game in the opponents deployment zone. My wraithlord whipped around the hill to the perfect spot. I was just in range of his prime, who had the lone operative enhancement, and I was between the two squads on the hill. The north bike joins the fight with the gaunts and leaper. My wraithlord shoots his brightness at the prime, and obliterated him. A 4 on the damage roll and a 2 on his invuln splatted him to the ground.

 

Wraithlord then charges the two on the hill, and my buddy uses a strat that makes his guys -1 to be hit on his barbs. So I put all the attacks I to the terms. He kills 6 of them. The leaper kills a other two guardians, the gaunts kill none, but another 3 of them die. 

 

It is now that we realize he has nothing that can kill my wraithlord, and the combat woth the guardians is going nowhere quick. Turn 4 is just combat, with much of the same happening. We call it on my turn 4 for the eldar. We discussed that if he had actually played the objective game and not just tried to kill me, he would have won. I also thought of a few things he could have done on the final turns that would have shifted the game in his favor as well, but that wasn't until after the game was well over.

 

In the end though, the Maiden World of Elibe is defended by the stalwart citizens of Craftworld Etruria! I hope you enjoyed this battle report!

Edited July 27, 2023 by Urkh

[Urkh]

Storm Guardians complete*!

 

July was a mean month for my household, so it took a long time to finish these guys. But now I am back at it. Now that they are done*, I will be moving onto the vow proper!

 

 

*I will be doing all basing at the very end.

[TrawlingCleaner]

That orange is popping, great work!