Monday, April 6, 2015

Xenos vs Imperium 3/29/15- Da Eldar hire Orks to crump the humies!


Backstory (Eldar perspective)

Prithee, the human barbarians are nigh upon our gates and we are forced to desperate measures. I regrettably have been forced by circumstance to lower our race in hiring a large tribe of loathsome Orks to bolster our defenses. Their sheer violence may deter these zealots from their incursion into our beloved adopted world, though ...(ships log continues)

Backstory (Ork perspective)

Da gits wif da girly hair say we get teef if'n we crump da humies. Orky!

Backstory (Imperium perspective)

For the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the EmperorFor the Emperor

The armies: troops and strategy

Armies of the Imperium: Chris' Space Wolves

Njal Stormcaller, the Tempest that Walks- HQ (rolled all Divination powers and trait: Infiltrate)

Dreadnought with missile launcher
16 Grey Hunters (2 plasma guns)
5 Long Fangs with missile launchers, 1 Ancient
1 Predator tank
1 Stormfang Gunship

Armies of the Imperium: Mike's allied detachments
Sisters of Battle:
Celestine
5 Battle sisters in a Rhino tank
5 Dominions in an Immolator (lots of melta weapons)
1 Exorcist tank
Ad Mech
Company command squad, master of ordnance, lascannon
Veteran squad, 3 plasma guns, chimera tank
Vendetta tank
2x Wyvern tanks

Xenos armies: Eldar 
1 Farseer (Warlord, level 3 psyker) with the trait that lets you target 2 different units
1 Wraithknight
1 Wraithlord
2 War Walkers
2 Wave Serpents filled with Dire Avengers


Xenos Armies: Orks in a Horde detachment
1 Warboss in Mega Armor with Da Lukky Stikk, rolled Prophet of the Waaagh
1 unit of Meganobz in a Battlewagon with a Deffrolla
3 units of 10 Boyz, each with: a Nob with a Power Klaw, a Big Shoota Boy, and a Trukk
10 Stormboyz led by Boss Zagstrukk
1 unit of Tankbustas with 3 attack squigs in a Looted Eldar Wave Serpent

Tactics: I didn't expect to face such a powerful army, but I should be able to get my troops across the board and into close combat (where Orks excel). The Imperium brought a lot of armor (hard to crack through and with big guns), and neither of us have anything to deal with their flyers. Best bet is to have Orks charge across the field and take the hits while the Eldar blow up some tanks. I've got enough units that it won't matter if several of them die, and the Battlewagon will keep my Meganobz safe and mobile so they can do some serious damage when they get into CC. The Tankbustas and Wave Serpents will be crucial to blowing up tanks- he's got a lot of points invested in them and if we take out 3 that's enough for the win (since the Orks can keep them tied down in melee while Eldar grab objectives).

The Battle- turn 1

Deployment:

Off to a very bad start as Xenos fail to seize the initiative and the guns start to fire. First, the Sisters' Immolator moves up using a scout move to get really close and deploys Dominions with anti-tank melta weapons.

They proceed to turn my battlewagon into scrap metal, insuring that my Meganobz and Warboss will not make it to the other side of the field in time to make a difference (and give the enemy first blood).
Chris' new Warlord casts Prescience on the Long Fangs (giving them all twin linked re-rolls to hit), and they proceed to destroy my Looted wagon and pin the Tankbustas in place
While some artillery fire wounds the WraithKnight once, the Wyverns open up. I had never seen anything like this before- 8 barrage shots (with a large blast rerolling any misses) insure that my Stormboyz are hit 40 times.  They take 22 wounds and all die, including Boss Zagstruk. This takes out most of my heavy hitters by crippling their mobility and the Stormboyz' loss will be felt when I try to tie down units in melee. Even worse, these big guns are killing our morale.

On the Xenos turn, I move up my Trukks as far as I can, trying to hide them in cover. The Meganobz destroy the Dominions and the Tankbustas immobilize + destroy the weapon on the Immolator, but the damage is done.

My Boyz attempt a charge on the Grey Hunters, but fail and lose 4 to overwatch shots.
Eldar shooting surprisingly fails to damage any tanks, and Greg's warlord is out of range for any useful psykik powers. Although the score is 1:1 due to a grabbed objective, my battle plan is in disarray.

Turn 2

This turn again starts badly for Xenos, as both flyers come in
Although their damage is limited to killing 1 Meganob- thank you lukky stikk!- and a Trukk in cover, the Long Fangs kill a second Trukk and pin the Boyz who were in it. 

This effectively cripples Ork mobility, and the hope for a charge from the closer skuad of Boyz fails as the buffed Grey Hunters destroy them. Furthermore, the Exorcist targets an Eldar Warlord's Wave Serpent and destroys it, leaving him in the open. Finally, the Wyverns target the Tankbustas and the carnage is unbelievable. No survivors.

In response, the WraithKnight blows up the Exorcist tank and the Boyz shoot 4 Grey Hunters, but at this point we're losing badly. 

Score is 2 (Orks secure objective 5) to 2 (Sisters recon + 1st blood)- it's all on the (pretty undamaged) Eldar now.

Turn 3

As the reserve Sisters come in and draw the "assassinate" (kill a character) objective, Celestine and the remaining Hunters move on the last skuad of Boyz. After killing all but 3 in shooting, she charges and Freddee the Nob declares a challenge. 
Although he insta-kills her in a brutal combat, she uses her Act ability to come back from the dead and he dies in a sweeping advance :(.

Imperial shooting finishes off the Farseer and his squad, a Wave Serpent, a Nob and his Skuad, most of a third Boyz Skuad, and all of the last unit of Eldar. 

Humies score 5 points for assassinate, and after the Meganobz fail to kill a tank and Eldar fail to slay the warlord we called the game. Final score: 2 Xenos to a lot Imperium (at least 8)


Final thoughts

Thanks to Chris for the venue and to Chris and Mike for a great game. It was a little demoralizing, but we learned a lot. Both Wyverns (destroy any non-tank unit they aim at) and Divination psykik (with re-rolls granted to any miss) powers made a huge difference in the battle. 

If had known how badly we were overmatched (experience counts) I would have used my Stompa and put the Tankbustas/Meganobz in it- besides immunity to the Wyvern shooting it would have survived 2 turns and been able to kill a few tanks. Other than bringing a super-heavy though, I'm at a loss as to how to counter this army with Orks. 

It would have been possible for 1/3 of the Ork army to survive into close combat if I had brought a warband (6 units of Boyz and some support), and Lootas' long range + power would have been able to destroy a Wyvern. I'm also wondering about Grukk's Rippin Krew and their tellyport attack- that would have gotten 1/4 of our army right up in the enemy's face right away. Suggestions are appreciated!

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