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I had my first game against Dark Eldar yesterday here is how I got on. Be warned this one is not for the squimish or those of a sensertive disposition. It really was quite brutal.

Warhammer 40k Battle Report - Orks Vs Dark Eldar


As always please leave feedback as to what you liked or disliked about the report and please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you wish to see more of these reports.

If you used vassal why did you not use the infantry models?

This is what you get for relying on 4+ cover saves all the time to save your warty hide

grayspark wrote:If you used vassal why did you not use the infantry models?

Well basically I was trying to emulate, or at least pay homage to, the style of the WD Battle Reports I enjoyed in my youth. In these reports the infantry were represented by symbols or icons whereas the vehicles had more detailed images. Here is an example of what I mean...



Now as for the battle itself. Where oh where did i go wrong? I don't think I have ever had my ass handed to me like that before. What lessons should I be learning from this defeat. Please help!

There really wasn't much you could have done. The Dark Eldar's dice were on fire, and yours... were less so.

The odds of a single dark lance destroying a battle wagon w/ kff protection.

2/3 will hit * 1/3 will penetrate * 1/2 will make it through KFF * 1/3 will destroy the wagon

= 3.7%

Each of his dark lances had a 3.7% chance of wrecking your battle wagons. The fact that he wrecked 6 of your vehicles with 8 lance shots is something nearly impossible to prepare for.

I note that in the WD battle report page you posted, the infantry are shown as individual bases. In the animation, they were big rectangular blocks, which works fine for Fantasy but not really for 40k. Still, it's a good start on a neat idea.

This is awesome, used to love the old iconed battle reports in white dwarf.

You had horrendously bad luck that game,

Thank you as ever for the constructive comments so far, they are very useful to me and I'll take them on board for next time.

But moving onto the battle itself... Where oh where did I go wrong? Its clear that tactically I was inept, so what lessons do I need to lean for next time? What changes should i be making to my strategy?

You might want to get rid of tankbusters and use lootas. Some more long range fire power is always a good thing. Cuz when i saw no lootas in your list I knew it was going to be a hard fight for the orks

I'm with Billythekid. Tankbustas are a worthless unit in the most recent Codex. Their Glory Hogs special rule means they will rarely fire at the vehicle that is the biggest threat at the moment, and due to how Ork morale works they'll quit the field after suffering a few casulties. As for the Dark Eldar, I'm thinking a Speed Freaks force would do better. The DE's main advantage is their mobility which enables them to flank you quickly. Having a Warbike and Trukk force will keep that from happening.

I agree with terminator, and if you add lootas to speed freeks you can get rid of all of his transports which makes it easier for you to out maneuver those sneaky dark eldar.

Fun Fact about Glory Hogs: It doesn't make the Tankbustas shoot at the closest vehicle. It just makes them shoot at and try to assault a vehicle, anywhere on the board. You can target that Rhino 12" away instead of the empty, weaponless Landspeeder 2" away if you want.

True anvildude but lootas are still better at av 12 so getting rid of at least one squad of tankbustas for lootas is way better.

I'm going to agree with what was said so far in the thread. Tankbusters are not as bad as they are usually made out to be (and against marines they are actually ok), but Lootas are a much better choice, particularly when it comes to bringing down transports.

I don't know about bikes, they shoot well, but usually are too small in numbers, and particularly against DE that is likely to just see them run away before doing anything. Wartrakks would be the better choice here.

DE is the fastest army in the game so it is going to be tough to out manoeuvre them. The trick is either to strike hard and fast bringing down their transports and breaking up their attack, or keep your force together, bring them to you and then counter attack hard. 2nd can be tough to pull off against an experienced opponent. Last thing you should do is try and chase them around the board, that is the most uphill of uphill battles.

Bikes are really good if they are used properly. You would not believe how much firepower they can take, plus the amount of shots they can dish themselves. They also make great vehicle hunters with a nob with powerklaw. Assaulting i only suggest that you assault things with strength 3 because those bikers are still boys so space marines still hurt them. Just don't forget the turbo boost frist turn for that awesome 3 plus cover save

Billythekid256 wrote:Bikes are really good if they are used properly. You would not believe how much firepower they can take, plus the amount of shots they can dish themselves. They also make great vehicle hunters with a nob with powerklaw. Assaulting i only suggest that you assault things with strength 3 because those bikers are still boys so space marines still hurt them. Just don't forget the turbo boost frist turn for that awesome 3 plus cover save

Don't get me wrong, I love me some bikes, just that all those poisoned shot the DE get tend to take their toll, even with the great cover save, and PK nobs are not really as useful vs DE as against other forces (although here they may have made shot work of a Talos). Really, you want the bikes for their guns here, which are great, but a little short on range, which is why I still suggest a trakk squadron instead.

Billythekid256 wrote:True anvildude but lootas are still better at av 12 so getting rid of at least one squad of tankbustas for lootas is way better.

No, they can be better, but only if they get a crap ton of shots off. Its easier for rokkits to pen av12 then it is for a deffgun stats wise. But in that setup, there was alot of open lines of sight, so 2 units of lootas would of been WAY better against those Deldar then the tankbustas.

Also I just want to say, yes the Deldar dice were hot, but the biggest problem was the Ork player played his build wrong. You never EVER split a trukk build up like that. You keep them together and hit the same point of the enemy together. Splitting up trukks is the fastest way to have them blown to bits, and then be picked off easy cheesy.

KingCracker wrote:
Also I just want to say, yes the Deldar dice were hot, but the biggest problem was the Ork player played his build wrong. You never EVER split a trukk build up like that. You keep them together and hit the same point of the enemy together. Splitting up trukks is the fastest way to have them blown to bits, and then be picked off easy cheesy.

Precisely! The moment you split your force you were in trouble. It just isn't wise to give DE a wide front to attack, they will just overwhelm you at multiple locations, leaving nothing that can back you up. His dice were on fire, but sticking together may have mitigated a lot of the damage, and you would probably have been in a much better position.

I was thinking maybe I would drop both units of tank bustas for two Buzz Saw armed Deff Koptas. Anyone think that could work well?

The tactica guy wrote:I was thinking maybe I would drop both units of tank bustas for two Buzz Saw armed Deff Koptas. Anyone think that could work well?

Deff Koptas are a great 1st turn anti tank strike .... then they die. At 70 points a piece (with buzz saw and rokkits) they are a little pricey but if you can take out that Predator/dred/ravager 1st turn it can be worth it.

Also, only take squads of 1

Ok I'll take them is squads of one. My next game, which is tomorrow, will be against either Blood Angels of Grey Knights. I have never faced either...any tips?

Blood Angels are kind of Orky, in that they have a lot of different builds, but within those builds they tend to be somewhat similar. You'll either have Descent of Angels, where everything is Deepstriking in, Razorback/Rhino (or whatever the BA use, never seen it myself) Mechanized BA, which is rather fast, all in vehicles, I think, or they might go heavy Dred and Flyer, fast with a lot of punch. Or they might go Death Company, which are basically Raging Nobs without wound allocation.

Against Blood Angels, then, I'd actually say go shooty- Might actually want to keep the Tankbustas, because you won't want to get within assault range of those transports you'll be popping, which is probably what's going to happen with the Deffkoptas, an there might be a lot more armour than you'd otherwise like. Or with Blood Talon Drednaughts, don't want to assault them, ever with Orks, unless you're using something with a very high initiative, high strength, and low invuln save. Best way to deal with Blenderdreds is to throw Deffdredds at them, or Deffrolla them to death, since they don't have good anti-armour capabilities.


Grey Knights, depending on the list, might be best faced by swarming them with boyz, or (if it's a Purifyer list) by, once again, shooting them. But with Grey Knights, they'll be shooting back, with some pretty decent ranged weaponry- though I think most of their range is fairly short, within the 36" mark. For them, I think artillery might be the way to go- lots of guns, firing over cover, or from vehicles with the KFF cover.