Kindred Clash
(Eldar vs Dark Eldar)
The mission was rescue
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| The Eldar Swordwind force Will in Command |
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Both forces were to be fielded in the WPS Club Challenge 2001. Will,
obviously fed up with being labeled fair, had taken a 'Samesk' unit of 3 war walkers with
star cannons (and a bright lance.) |
| The Dark Eldar force Pete in Command |
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My force was completely the opposite. I had attempted to go for really
high army composition marks so had gone for a theme of speed, yet fragility. And 6 troop
choices. |
| Turn one for the Dark Eldar sees them pouncing on the first of the 6
markers & through a massive stroke of luck, or tactical genius if you talk to Pete,
the DE find the rescue counter. |
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Of course it was tactical genius. the whole point of the force was that it
was fast, and the army could cover a large number of objectives in turn 1. |
| Turn one for the Eldar goes without incident, even with their massed
firepower not a single Dark Eldar falls. |
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His fire power was useless as I was cunningly out of the way! |
| Turn two for the Dark Eldar, Pete throws a Raider squad at the advancing
Scorpions & WaveSerpent, no match for the Scorpions they die easily. |
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I was hoping that they would last the turn to slow down the advance! |
| Meanwhile in a corner of the board far, far, away, the objective counter
is held securely by the rest of the Dark Eldar force. No sign of the Dark Eldar lord or
his retinue! |
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Reserve rolls! Doh!
Still the objective was well defended (or so I thought!) |
| Turn two for the Eldar goes slightly better with all the remaining forces
arriving & beginning their slow advance on the Dark Eldar position. With the suicide
Raider squad & transport destroyed the Scorpions advance. |
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I really should have killed those war walkers earlier. I had targeted the
wave serpents to stop Will reaching me, but didn't really have to as my warriors would
have been up to the challenge! |
| Turn three for the Dark Eldar removes one of the WaveSerpents advancing on
their lines. The Scourges arrive in a devastating shower of firepower, well maybe not
devastating but they arrive all the same. |
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Still with shooting the Wave Serpents, biggest mistake of the game on my
part. The Scourges sorted out Will's Dark Reapers though. |
| Strengthening their position yet more Dark Eldar position themselves for
the defence. This is not going to be easy. |
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Playing defensively is not a Dark Eldar strength. Note to self, don't try
this again! |
| Oh & just to make it that little bit more of a challenge, the Dark
Eldar Lord joins the battle in a sweeping assault. |
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As I mentioned, the Dark Eldar dealt with the aspect warriors from the
Serpent much more easily than taking casualties from the war walkers. |
| Turn four for the Eldar sees the surviving WaveSerpent break through the
Dark Eldar lines, supported by the jetbike mounted Farseer & Warlock. The Scorpions
move ready to assault while the War-walkers lay down massive Star-cannon fire. |
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Starting to get worried now! Time to think about moving that objective.
Now where did I park that Raider? |
| Turn five for the Dark Eldar gets messy as the Incubi slaughter the
outmatched Scorpions. Now if only I had a Wraithlord & Avatar near by to enact some
retribution, oh look.....hehehe |
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Incubi can handle any other infantry unit (dodgy with Banshees ...) but
not a Wraithlord. If only I knew the Lord DOES get an invulnerable save vrs Mind War!! |
| Meanwhile in that aforementioned corner, far, far away, the Farseer is a
swirling monster of death as he battles alone against a Dark Eldar unit. Today is a good
day to die. |
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Kill the Farseer, then all aboard the Raider! |
| & so to the last dice roll of the game, if the Avatar can hit the
Raider & destroy it, the Eldar will have the Objective & win............Pants! He
misses, oh well.
Well done Pete, I'll beat you next time! |
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Ha Ha, we run away with the objective! |
| by Will & Pete |
Conclusion: Even though the Dark Eldar found the Objective marker with
only moving one model & kept it for the entire game, it still came down to one dice
roll to possibly change the outcome of the whole game. Is this good, bad or of no
consequence? You decide! |
I learned a lot from this game (only my second with Dark Eldar). The most
important lesson was that winning a close game with a fair army is much more fun than
wiping someone out with a huge beard! |
23 Aug 2001
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