This game was a rematch from my previous game in which I barely managed a draw with only a single wych left on the board. This time around our lists changed and I found him experimenting with 70 points left over so he took Chronus just to check him out. His list:
Vulken Hestan – rides in one of the drop pods
Librarian, terminator armor, force weapon, might of ancients and smite
5 Terminators, storm shields, hammers
Land Raider Redeemer, melta, bolter, Brother Chronus, extra armor
10
Tac Marines, multi-melta, melta, Sgt. P-fist, bolter, Drop Pod
10
Tac Marines, multi-melta, melta, Sgt. P-fist, bolter, Drop Pod
10
Tac Marines, multi-melta, melta, Sgt. P-fist, bolter, Drop Pod
10
Tac Marines, flamer, melta, Sgt. P-fist, combi-flamer, Drop Pod
Vindicator, Extra Armor
My List:
Archon, Punisher, T-Helm, Plasma Grenades, Combat Drugs, Shadowfield, T-Rack, Reaver Jetbike
Dracon, Agoniser, pistol, plasma grenades,combat drugs, T-rack
5 Incubi, Incubi baMaster, combat drugs, plasma, 2 warriors w/splinter cannons, Raider, lance, H-fex
8 Wyches, 2 blasters, wych weapons, plasma, Succubus, agoniser, pistol, t-rack, Raider, lance, H-fex
8 warriors,7 rifles, 1 Dark Lance, Raider, lance, Horrorfex
8 warriors,7 rifles, 1 Dark Lance, Raider, lance, Horrorfex
8 warriors,7 rifles, 1 Dark Lance, Raider, lance, Horrorfex
6 warriors,5 rifles, 1 Dark Lance, Raider, lance, Horrorfex
10 warriors, 2 Dark Lances
6 Reaver Jetbikes, 2 Blasters, Succubus, punisher, t-helm, plasma, goblet of spite
Talos
Talos
Talos
The mission was “annihilation” (kill-points) with a “pitched battle” deployment. He won first move and elected to setup first.
He deployed his Redeemer with Chronus, Librarian and Termies near the center but to the right and also the Vindicator just left of it. Of course Vulken was put into one of the drop pods which were all in reserve.
I deployed all 3 Talos on the 12” deployment line mostly in the center but spread apart. I then put down the sniper squad on the 3rd level of a building but put all the remaining Raider Squads around the Talos. Idea was that if he was going to get a cheap kill-point by popping a flimsy raider then my Talos were going to make him pay.
Salamander’s Turn 1 (picture down below)
The Vindy moves 12” forward and pops smoke and the Redeemer also moves forward 12” but doesn’t pop smoke.
2 Drop Pods drop off to my left in such a way that 2 of my Talos could not reach them but still was close enough for their meltas.
The Redeemer uses the spirit to fire the auto cannon at one of my raiders on my right – thanks to a cover save he only gets 1 penetration shot that knocks the lance off.
One drop squad meltas a loaded raider which explodes killing 4 warriors – they pass pinning & morale
The other drop pod squad ends up getting scared of the nearby Talos and rapid fires everything (including all the meltas) and only scores 1 wound, 2 left.
Dark Eldar Turn 1 (picture down below)
The 2 Talos on the right shift to the left but will not make it into close combat. The loaded raider with the lance blown off slides 12” to get in horrorfex range of a
Tac Squad.
A dark lance from a raider penetrates a drop pod and wrecks it. The sniper squad (2 dark lance warrior squad) fires at the Land Raider Redeemer, penetrates it and wrecks it spilling out the Librarian and Terminators – Brother Chronus successfully bails out. A lance from a raider squad fires it’s single shot at the Vindicator, penetrates it and it explodes despite the smoke. The raider with the fex tries to pin a
Tac Squad but they successfully pass the check, the passengers however rapid fire on the
Tac Squad the Talos is going to charge and kills one marine. The Talos uses it’s stinger and also kills a marine from the closest squad as well.
The Talos charges the now 8 man marine squad which kills 3 marines while the marines can’t seem to touch the Talos – marines pass morale.
Salamander’s = 1 Kill point
Dark Eldar’s = 3 Kill points
Salamander Turn 2 (picture down below)
One of the 2 Drop Pods becomes available but it is not the one with Vulken in it – it drops on target and it obviously lines up the squad to be able to lay 2 flamer templates covering part of the sniper squad and all of the surviving warrior squad that was sitting in the crater. The Terminators move forward to 1” of a Talos while a
Tac Squad moves to get close to a loaded raider squad.
The
Tac Squad rapid fires 2 meltas and explodes a loaded raider killing 3 warriors inside – they pass the pinning check. The other
Tac Squad lays two flamer templates and kills off the surviving raider squad completely and then flames 8 out of 10 warriors (leaving the 2 dark lances) with the rest of the bolters rapid firing the remaining 2 – miraculously, only one lance dies after going to ground and also ends up passing morale after 2 drop pods try to pick him off.
The Librarian, Chronus and the Terminators combo charge both Talos. I put one Talos to attack Chronus since he was an easy kill point and that my Talos was going to die anyway I managed to kill him. The Librarian smacks the Talos with his Might of Ancients and then uses the Force Weapons Insta-kill ability to finish off the Talos but he suffers the Perils of the Warp and takes a wound! The rest of the hammers attacks were managed perfectly and he kills off both Talos nicely – they consolidate backwards into a crater. The
Tac Squad that popped the loaded raider charges into assault with the 5 warriors sitting in a crater and the warriors manage to kill 2 marines while the marines only manage to kill 2 themselves – tied combat! The remaining Talos engaged with the
Tac Squad from last turn only kills 1 marine and again the marines fail to wound the Talos – he passes morale just fine.
Salamanders = 5 Kill points
Dark Eldar = 4 Kill points
Dark Eldar Turn 2 (picture down below)
My Wyches (with the +1 attack drug) and my Bike Lord with the bikes (also with the +1 attack drug) become available. The wyches disembark to rescue the 3 remaining warriors locked up with the
Tac Squad while the Bike Lord and bikes plan to charge the fresh
Tac Squad with the flamers. I still have 2 loaded Raider Squads and I maneuver 1 of them so I can get 2 horrorfex shots (the other raider squad didn’t have to move) on the Terminators hoping to keep the Terminators out of combat for a turn.
Both horrorfexs fail to pin and one raider squad fails to kill any of the Terminators – the other mounted Raider squad decides to go after an easier kill point and fires at a drop pod but only manages to knock the bolter off it. The empty wych raider fires a lance at another drop pod but only manages to stun it. The Biker Lord and bikes fire into the flamer marines and kills 2 (out of 10).
Wyches charge in and manage to kill 3 marines while the marines manage to kill 2 of the 3 remaining warriors – marines pass morale just fine. The Lord and bikes kill 6 marines and the marines are able to take down 1 bike – the marines lose 1 to combat resolution leaving the Sgt. alone. The remaining Talos kills 2 more marines (out of 4) but the marines again fail to wound the Talos – they fail morale but nobody gets hurt.
Kill points remain the same, 5-4 Salamanders.
Salamander’s Turn 3 (picture down below)
Vulken fails to show up. The Libby & Terminators move forward in order to charge a loaded raider and everything else is tied up in combat.
A drop pod fires and hits twice the lone lance warrior sitting on the 3rd floor – he makes both his cover saves.
He assaults a loaded raider with his Libby & Terminators but manages to get 1 Terminator into base contact with a Reaver Jetbike. The Libby wrecks the raider and the 8 warriors inside escape out the back out of combat. The Biker Lord easily kills the lone Sgt. (look ma, no drugs!) but that terminator ends up hammering 2 bikes to the ground – The Lord loses combat res. but passes morale easily and we all pile in. The wyches kill only 1 marine while the marines manage to kill the remaining warrior and 1 wych – Wyches loses combat by 1 but passes morale. The Talos kills 1 marine while the remaining Sgt again fails to wound the Talos, loses combat res. but passes morale.
Salamanders = 7 Kill points
Dark Eldar = 5 Kill points
Dark Eldar’s Turn 3 (picture down below)
The Dracon with the Incubi and Master become available and disembark 1” from Terminators. The 8 warriors that survived the wreckage, move and embark on the Dracon’s raider that was empty. Fearing Vulken, I flat-out the remaining Raider Squad out of the area to the right and also wing out the wyche’s raider off to the left.
The wych raider, the Incubi raider and the lone lance warrior all miss.
The Dracon and Incubi charge into the Terminators but they lose 2 Incubi to dangerous terrain checks from climbing over a wrecked raider. The Biker Lord kills the Libby and the Succubus and bikes kill a Terminator as well. The Incubi and Master laid several hits on the Terminators but the shields deflect all but 1 of them and Terminators were able to squash 2 more bikes with their hammers – the
DE lose by 1 but everyone passes their morale check. The wyches inflict 2 kills on the marines while the remaining 2 marines fail to do anything – they fail morale and run away 7” towards my Talos. The Talos finally kills off the Sgt and consolidates close to the 2 fleeing marines in order to ensure they do not regroup.
Salamanders = 7 Kill points
Dark Eldar = 8 Kill points
Salamander’s Turn 4 – the Red Shirt tells us this is the last turn, time to close. (picture down below)
Vulken finally lands and he alone pops the Incubi raider that had 8 warriors in it – once again the warriors sneak out the back unharmed.
A drop pod fires again at the lone lance warrior sitting by himself but he goes to ground and avoids getting wounded.
The Archon, Dracon, bikes, Incubi and Master kill off the remaining Terminators and consolidate towards Vulken’s squad.
Salamanders = 8 Kill points
Dark Eldar = 8 Kill points
Dark Eldar’s Turn 4 (picture down below)
No movement
I fire 5 dark matter shots at a drop pod and fail to do anything.
I assault the Talos into the drop pod and wreck it.
The Biker Lord puts 5 wounds on Vulken but he shrugs them off. The Dracon, Incubi and Master kill 9 marines while they kill 2 from the retinue in return (I kill off the 2 warriors). Vulken and Sgt fail morale and actually break away fleeing for their lives and the game ends there.
Salamanders = 8 Kill points
Dark Eldar = 11 Kill points (fleeing
Tac Squad, a fleeing Vulken and the wrecked Drop Pod)
This is the first time I have played a hybrid list like this and I was surprised at the resilience of it in this game but it really seemed that I was getting lucky throughout the entire game – extremely unusual for me. A quick synopsis of my squads performance:
Reaver Lord – the Archon on a bike is a beast, he performed exactly as expected killing 3 to 4 marines a turn and laying 5 wounds on Vulken himself – being able to go to Strength is nice!
Reaver Jetbike Squad – performed as expected as the strength 5 succubus did most of the killing in aiding the Lord. The goblet of spite in this squad at first seemed a waste and thought it would have been better on the wyches but the goblet allowed my Lord to hit Vulken on a “3+” so I can’t complain.
Wyches – although not a “hammer” unit they almost succeeded in rescuing the warrior squad. They only lost 2 wyches and was able to lay 2 blaster shots at a drop pod so they did well too.
The Dracon, Incubi, Incubi Master and the 2 warriors with splinter cannons did ok. I had problems getting them into base contact with the enemy and actually lost 3 incubi to dangerous terrain checks. The Master was an experiment and was rather an expensive one at that. He did manage to kill 4 marines(thanks to the combat drugs) I think taking more incubi would have been better instead – it was, however, nice to have the Master strike at initiative 6 even though it wasn’t needed. The 2 warriors with the cannons was also an experiment and I do not mind them really. They did kill one marine with their cannons and provided to be ablative wounds against power weapon attacks – I would have used them the same way if their raider had exploded. I think I may try Drazhar next instead of the master, hmmm.
The 3 Talos in my eyes performed as expected – they got their kill points worth as well as denying the enemy the last one. It’s hard to explain but they do “anchor” my starting units and compliment them with some
CC potential. This is totally different than how 3 ravagers would interact with the list but I am finding the Talos more my style as well as more fun – I am keeping them in the list.
My opponent on the other hand wasn’t happy with Chronus but he didn’t know what to do with the points and felt the Librarian needs a change. He was a great sport and never mentioned his bad luck or my unusual list – we both had a fun time.
P.S. Special thank to Thor665 for inspiration on some of the units – maybe not exactly as we discussed but it did inspire me to use certain units in this list and I just changed them to my play style.
Scarab Prince Corsairs: