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Got a game in with Metallicarule aka John on Friday. I haven't played against him using my Dark Eldar for sometime. I've only played with my D.E against him twice, I got one victory which all the puny Eldar got destroyed and John managed to pick up a sneaky victory. I am wondering if my Dark Eldar can even the score?

Dark Eldar "Kabal of a Thousand Cuts" - 2,000 points


HQ

Baron Sathonyx

Elite

4 x Kabalite Trueborn w/ Venom - 4 x blasters - Venom w/ splinter cannon
4 x Kabalite Trueborn w/ Venom - 4 x blasters - Venom w/ splinter cannon
3 x Kabalite Trueborn w/ Venom - 3 x blasters - Venom w/ splinter cannon

Troops

5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Venom - blaster - Venom w/ splinter cannon
5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Venom - blaster - Venom w/ splinter cannon
5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Venom - blaster - Venom w/ splinter cannon
5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Venom - blaster - Venom w/ splinter cannon
5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Venom - blaster - Venom w/ splinter cannon
5 x Kabalite Warriors w/ Venom - blaster - Venom w/ splinter cannon

Fast Attack

Beastmasters - 3 x beastmasters, 5 x khymerae & 4 x razorwing flocks
Beastmasters - 3 x beastmasters, 5 x khymerae & 4 x razorwing flocks

Heavy Support

Ravager - flickerfield
Ravager - flickerfield
Ravager - flickerfield


Eldar - 2,000 points

HQ

Farseer - runes of warding & guide
Autarch - fusion gun

Elite

5 x Fire Dragons w/ Wave Serpent - Serpent w/ twin-linked shuriken cannon & shuriken cannon
5 x Fire Dragons w/ Wave Serpent - Serpent w/ twin-linked shuriken cannon & shuriken cannon

5 x Fire Dragons w/ Wave Serpent - Serpent w/ twin-linked shuriken cannon & shuriken cannon


Troops

5 x Dire Avengers w/ Wave Serpent - Serpent w/ twin-linked eldar missile launcher & shuriken cannon
5 x Dire Avengers w/ Wave Serpent - Serpent w/ twin-linked eldar missile launcher & shuriken cannon
5 x Dire Avengers w/ Wave Serpent - Serpent w/ twin-linked eldar missile launcher & shuriken cannon
5 x Guardian Jetbikes - shuriken cannon

Heavy Support

3 x War Walkers - 6 x eldar missile launchers
3 x War Walkers - 6 x scatter lasers
3 x War Walkers - 6 x scatter lasers

Pre-game Analysis

I don't like John's not one bit. He has got a very, very shooty army which is very affective against low armour armour and infantry. As my D.E skimmers only need to be sneezed at to go down I am very worried about this game. To be honest, I don't think John gives his Eldar army enough credit. It's pretty bad ass and can cause some major problems.

Luckily for me I have played against John so many times I've lost count and I know what to target in this list; the War Walkers. These can dish out fire power like no bodies business and will make short work of my Beastmasters and skimmers. The Fire Dragons also worry me, but I know and John knows they are suicide so sometimes it's best to let them come to me.

Game: Capture & Control + Spearhead

Deployment

Yay! The auto draw game . I deploy bottom left corner as it has a decent amount of cover, plus the corner John deploys in hasn't got a huge amount of cover, though he has happy with this as gives him room to deploy. I put my Ravagers at the front and turn them length ways on to give cover to my Venoms behind. The Beastmasters deploy in between the Venoms.

John puts all his Serpents as far back as he can. He puts the Fire Dragon Serpents at the front while the EML Walker unit stays right at the back while the two scatter Walker units use cover. His Guardian-bikes are in reserve.

I had placed my objective in the shrine ruin, reason for this and not the board edge is I expected John to outflank a War Walker unit - he didn't. John put his objective right in the top right corner, good job I have fast skimmers!



The calm before the storm!



Dirty Dark Eldar are out on a pervy outing with their perv-boats.



The weird, do-gooder, annoying, flower loving Eldar aka Bumdar line up for a picnic.

* Tactical Notes

Ok, John has got his units far back which will be hard for me to reach. The only unit which is standing out to me is a unit of War Walkers behind a large ruin on the right side of the board. This unit may or may not get cover, though I am going to blast it to bits first turn and at least reduce the shooting from that unit a little bit. I'll also move all my skimmers flat out so they at least get some kind of cover save.

Turn 1

John attempts to seize the initiative and fails.

My first turn; I move a single Trueborn Venom 12" and bail out the Trueborn so they can torrent the War Walkers. All other skimmers move flat out to support the leading Venom. Both Beastmaster units get poor run moves and end up hanging about around the Ravagers.

Shooting; I blast the unit of War Walkers through the ruin, most times they get cover and Jonh does well on cover saves. I manage to take one out and shake another. That's my turn done!

John's first turn; he casts guide on his EML War Walkers while the other two units of War Walkers flank forward to get into range. Two Serpents carrying Avengers and Dragons move down the right flank to add some target saturation along side the battered scatter-walker unit. One Dragon Serpent moves 12" along Eldar's board edge to fire between the ruins at the exposed Trueborn.

Shooting; EMLs wreck a Ravager which now gives better cover to Baron and the Beastmasters. Shuri cannon from the Serpent which moved 12" kills half the Trueborn unit, one of the Serpents on the right board edge attempts to finish them off, though they pass cover saves thanks to firing through the War Walkers - Trueborn pass morale test. Scatter lasers open up on the Baron's Beastmaster unit, thanks to stealth I only lose a single flock, Beastmaster and Khymerae.



John is playing peek-a-boo round the door .



My Beastmaster packs are licking their lips at that depleted War Walker unit.



Just like John, the War Walkers like to play peek-a-boo too.



John's only fully painted Wave Serpent, a shame I am going to blow it up shortly .

* Tactical Notes

I don't feel that was a too bad first turn, could have been slightly better, I did want to take out at least two War Walkers, but I guess only one did fire so evens it out. I've lost a Ravager which could been worse to be honest and also a couple of beasts. All in all I think we're even stevens on the damage and I have got off lightly.

Next turn I will get the two man Trueborn unit back into the Venom and move majority of the Venoms over so they can torrent lances at those two Serpents. Baron will split from the depleted Beastmasters and go after the Dragon Serpent which moved 12" along with the full strength Beastmasters, though I will move a Ravager and two Venoms up to blast the Dragon Serpent to bits first. The depleted Beastmaster unit will charge the depleted scatter-walker unit.

Turn 2

D.E second turn; I get the two man Trueborn back in their Venom and move it 6" towards the two Serpents, other Venoms follow though one has to move 12" and the other goes flat out to keep them altogether. With the open gap the depleted Beastmasters move and run towards the War Walkers, though not before Baron splits off from the unit and lands in the centre tower ruin and runs - shame Baron gets a 1 for run! Other Beastmasters get a crappy run roll and terrain roll and stay behind the tower for cover. Two Venoms, one carrying the three Trueborn unit, move the other side of the tower away from the main Venom fleet along with Ravager support.

Shooting; I empty four blasters and three dark lances into the closest Fire Dragon Serpent on the other side of the tower ruin, the Serpent is immobilised and the turret is destroyed - shame Baron or the Beastmasters cannot assault :(. Mass blasters fire at the two Serpents on the right flank and best I can do is shake both of them, though I guess they are not shooting. The remaining Ravager fires at a Dragon Serpent and stuns it.

Assault; Beastmasters charge the War Walkers and manage to wreck a War Walker.

John rolls for reserves and the Jetbikes arrive coming on near the left table edge.

Eldar's second turn; John moves both shaken Wave Serpents on the right flank flat out and they block off any possible assault on the stunned Dragon Wave Serpent and the full the unit of War Walkers. Fire Dragons bail out the immobilised Wave Serpent preparing to sell themselves, my Dark Eldar will like that very much . Farseer casts guide on the EML War Walkers.

Shooting; Fire Dragons on foot fire at a Warrior Venom and score immobilised and weapon destroyed after flickerfield saves. EML Walkers blast the Ravager in the centre of the board, they do awesome at hitting but John rolls some really bad dice to damage it, only one penetrate which flickerfield saves. Jetbikes fire the shuri cannon into the Ravager supporting the two Venoms, but does nothing, the operational War Walkers fire full scatter lasers into the Ravager and it is wrecked. EML on the Farseer's Serpent fires but misses. In assault my Beastmasters cause minor damage on the War Walker.



[bThe dark kin are closing, Beastmasters and Baron should assault something next turn and the Venoms can easily reposition to blaster those Serpents at the front.[/b]



The hardcore War Walker holds on against my Beastmasters.



Mass of Wave Serpents. I hope some of these will go down next turn so I can poison the infantry inside or let my Beastmasters snack on their Bumdar bones .

* Tactical Notes

I was a bit disappointed with this turn as I really wanted to cause more damage and have Baron and Beastmasters in assault. I guess I cannot help the dice. But taking a longer look during John's turn I have halved his fire power, if things are not shooting at my Dark Eldar then that's good. At first John didn't seem bothered by this, though I think he found out in his shooting phase how much his fire power had been surpressed. I am hoping that the wheels in motion have been set.

Next turn I'll move the Venom fleet so they can torrent the Wave Serpent which moved flat out. With any luck I can take both of them out, destroy the infantry and clear a way to John's objective. I'll also use mass splinter cannons to gun down the Guardian Jetbike unit.

Turn 3

I move my Venom fleet away from my table edge and ready to engage the Wave Serpents which both moved flat out. Baron and the Beastmasters move through terrain and have fine pickings of targets.

Shooting; I unload a few splinter cannons into the Guardian Jetbikes and three die - unit passes morale test. I blast the immobilised Wave Serpent with the triple Trueborn and it is wrecked. The Warriors inside the immobilised Venom fire at the Fire Dragons and kill three - they pass morale. Blasters from the bulk of the Venom fleet fire at the two Wave Serpents which moved flat out, John fails every cover save and both of them explode in time - both squads take damage from shrapnel but pass pinning, though it doesn't matter as the Avenger and Fire Dragons are both wasted by splinter cannons. Remaining blasters fire at the remaining Fire Dragon Serpent and it is now immobilised.

Assault; Baron charges and smashes one of the scatter War Walkers and shakes another one, Beastmasters charge and easily wipe out the Fire Dragons while the single War Walker takes more damage from the other Beasmaster unit though it holds on in assault.

Eldar's third turn; John moves his Autarch Wave Serpent flat out towards the Guardian Jetbikes, the Jetbikes move behind the terrain piece near where they come in. The Farseer's ride moves back towards the objective while the EML War Walkers move to make space.

Looks like John hasn't got a lot of shooting here thanks to wrecked tanks, he fires the Jetbikes at the Trueborn Venom supporting the immobilised Venom and it explodes - all Trueborn are safe and pass pinning. Not sure what the War Walkers fire at.

Assault; Baron takes out another scatter War Walker and does hit and run and moves towards the Farseer's Serpent while the Beastmasters immobilise and rip weapons off the War Walker they are still engaged with.



Looks like the Eldar are on borrowed time, their numbers are dropping quickly!





Beastmasters are going to chow down that War Walker in about two seconds.

* Tactical Notes

A good turn for me and a bad turn for John. I've caused quite a dent in the Eldar force, it's no surprise that the Fire Dragons on foot were killed, but bad luck for John on failing all cover saves and having two Serpents go down and having one immobilised. John has taken a massive hit this turn and I am hoping he cannot turn it around, he hasn't got a lot left to cause offensive, but it appears he's going for my objective.

Next turn I'll poison the Guardian Jetbikes while blasters torrent the Autarch Serpent. Beastmasters will assault the final War Walker while mass blasters will fire at the immobilised Dragon Serpent and with any luck they will pop it. The Ravager will blast the remaining War Walkers with hope to take some out to give Baron a chance.

Turn 4

Dark Eldar's fourth turn; Baron moves to the Farseer's Wave Serpents while the Beastmasters move to get Baron's left over War Walker. Venom fleet moves up to torrent the immobilised Fire Dragon Serpent. That's all the movement!

Shooting; Trueborn on foot in the crater of their Venom torrent the Autarch's Wave Serpent along with multiple blaster shots from two nearby Warrior units, the Serpent passes every single cover save! Splinter cannons waste the remaining Jetbikes. Blasters fire at the last Fire Dragon Wave Serpent and it is wrecked, the squad is then torrent by splinter cannons and die. Ravager fires into the War Walkers but fails to cause serious damage. I've got guns left and ran out of targets!

In assault the Beastmasters charge and rip apart the War Walker while the other Beastmaster unit finally takes out the War Walker they have been engaged with for seveal turns. Baron charges the EML War Walkers and keeps them locked in assault.

Eldar's turn; Autarch's Serpent moves flat out and lands at the back of the shrine and is going for my objective. Farseer and Avengers bail out of their Serpent to hold the objective. That's it! I don't think there is any shooting as John doesn't bother to fire the Dire Avengers.

Baron does hit and run on the War Walkers and flies to the Wave Serpent leaving the EML War Walkers for the Beastmasters.



Just scrapes of Eldar left. The Dire Avengers have been hung out to dry and will eat poison while the Autrach Serpent just needs to be taken down to china town.



The ginger menace himself!



Beastmasters say "yum Bumdar!"

* Tactical Notes

I fear this is the end for John's Eldar. He hasn't got enough left to hold out against my number of guns. I just hope I can kill those Avengers by his objective and tackle the Autarch's unit and I've got the game in the bag.

Dire Avengers on the Eldar objective will be torrented with poison while the Beastmasters charge the War Walkers. Baron will attack the Wave Serpent. Mass lances will torrent the Autarch's Wave Serpent.

Turn 5

Both Beastmasters move to the War Walkers while Baron has his sight set on the Wave Serpent. Venoms move up to fire mass splinter cannons at the Avengers and Farseer while the surviving Ravager moves up to support the Trueborn and two Warrior units near the Autarch's Serpent. I move one Venom flat out and land it by my objective and claim it.

Shooting; I fire six blasters and three dark lances at the Autarch's Wave Serpent and John gets another lucky round of cover saves and the skimmer tank survives. Splinter cannons rape the Dire Avengers and Farseer, John's objective is no unclaimed.

In assault both Beastmasters destroy the EML War Walkers while Baron just shakes the Wave Serpent.

Eldar's turn and John has turned his frown upside and can possibly smell a well deserved victory. He bails the Autarch out the Serpent and moves the Serpent 12" to contest my objective while the Autarch walks behind. The other surviving Wave Serpent moves a little bit in order to totally block off the Eldar objective so I cannot claim it in any shape or form.

Shooting; Serpent and Autarch blast my Venom, I get cover and pass both saves.





* Tactical Notes

Well, looks like John has managed to make it a draw and a deserved draw for him. I am guessing he hopes the game ends on turn 5.

If the game doesn't end, well the Serpent is going to get shot by 10 lances while the Autarch and Dire Avengers will eat splinter cannons, other Venoms are close enough to be pulled back to provide more splinter cannon support. Baron, Beastmasters will attack the other Wave Serpent.

Turn 6

John know it's over and to save getting tabled he conceeds in a gentleman manor and gives me the win.

Summary

Well that game turned out quite differently from how I thought. I was expecting a lot of pain from John's mass shooting and to be honest I was prepared for a loss.

Game wise I think I played alright. I risked a unit of Trueborn at the start, it didn't pay off thanks to John's cover saves, though the unit survived. I had some bad dice rolls for Beastmasters and Baron at the start, but once those units got stuck in they caused some pain.

John had a little bad luck though I would say mostly his tactics let him down on turns 2 & 3 - sorry John, love you really bro! . I think he played too defensive on turn 2 and underestimated when I had halved his fire power thanks to stunned/shaken vehicles. Instead I would have bailed out the Fire Dragons and Avengers from those two Serpents on the right flank and open fired into Venoms, then both Wave Serpents would have rammed with a nice S6 hit - sure my Venoms could dodge but it's not like the Serpents were doing much else. I would have got the other Fire Dragons out and fired into another Venom while the Autarch's Serpent could have moved up and the Autrach and Avengers bailed out and blasted two more Venoms - if any Venoms were taken out then the units inside could have been charged. If John would have done this and got the right dice rolls he could have possibly taken out 7 Venoms and 4 infantry squads - a massive blow to me if this would have happened.

I also think John's deployment could have been a bit better. I would have put all F.D Serpents at the front, then all Avenger Serpents behind and then all War Walkers behind the Serpents. The scatter-walkers were too far forward and should hang back as they have a 36" range.

The Autarch should really go with Fire Dragons, I know this is putting all melta in one skimmer, though the Fire Dragons are asking for it anyway. See, the Fire Dragons have to move up to be in range so may as well put the Autarch in with them and get both units close together instead of either hanging back or getting a Avenger unit in the fight. When the Dragons and Autarch bail out they split and then fire at different targets.

I think if John didn't have his head in the clouds and didn't shy away then things could have gone differently. I eagerly await a rematch, craftworld kin!

That's too bad for the CW:Eldar. That seemed like a really good matchup for him. Good game overall!

I was thinking I might have got a loss in that game TBH. Eldar have so many guns which can easily rip up my paper airplanes.

Skimmers can't dodge rams from other skimmers.

Do you think 9 WW's is much more cost-effective than 3 Fire Prisms? I'm curious because I almost always run all prisms and I can't seem to give up the sweet template death. In this matchup in particular, although the high stregnth and AP would have been wasted, so were the incredible number of shots. Prisms also force you to spread out forces which makes for some tough decisions with line of sight and bringing guns to bear.

Great report. Too bad my Mechdar kin didn't pull through, but he'll get'cha next time

Fantastic terrain and well written battle report. My only complaint is that the armies are boring as hell. Variety is the spice of life...and these armies have none. Besides that minor gripe, it was a good report. Thanks for sharing.

By boring, he means competitive.

I like the Craftworld list a lot, even if I hate those flower eating pansies

wileythenord wrote:I like the Craftworld list a lot, even if I hate those flower eating pansies

Cannibalism, isn't it?

I agree with mercer's hindsight on John's deployment. FireD WaveSerpents ought to have been more forward.

mercer, have you tried the flash on the camera? I don't like it as it washes out my shots (blander colors, less contrast), but your pix seem dark and your army's dark paint job get obscured.

Or is that dakka's auto correct? I find that it tends to put in too much dark/black, and then my DE models lose their details in the pictures.


Good read, as always.

Good Batrep. I think that your opponent could have used a decent counter-charge unit to throw at your beasts. Although, being eldar, I don't think that would work out well

Brothererekose wrote:mercer, have you tried the flash on the camera? I don't like it as it washes out my shots (blander colors, less contrast), but your pix seem dark and your army's dark paint job get obscured.

Or is that dakka's auto correct? I find that it tends to put in too much dark/black, and then my DE models lose their details in the pictures.


Good read, as always.

In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there can be only dark darkness.

wileythenord wrote:Skimmers can't dodge rams from other skimmers.

Thanks for the info

powerclaw wrote:Do you think 9 WW's is much more cost-effective than 3 Fire Prisms? I'm curious because I almost always run all prisms and I can't seem to give up the sweet template death. In this matchup in particular, although the high stregnth and AP would have been wasted, so were the incredible number of shots. Prisms also force you to spread out forces which makes for some tough decisions with line of sight and bringing guns to bear.

Great report. Too bad my Mechdar kin didn't pull through, but he'll get'cha next time

Well, War Walkers can certainly put out more fire power than Fire Prisms and absorb a lot more damage. I did run Fire Prisms when I used Eldar and liked them.

Thanks about the report

CaptKaruthors wrote:Fantastic terrain and well written battle report. My only complaint is that the armies are boring as hell. Variety is the spice of life...and these armies have none. Besides that minor gripe, it was a good report. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks about the terrain and report. What would you do to change those armies?

wileythenord wrote:By boring, he means competitive.

I like the Craftworld list a lot, even if I hate those flower eating pansies

Well, not just competitive, but well thought out lists which use the best units and best setups.

Brothererekose wrote:

I agree with mercer's hindsight on John's deployment. FireD WaveSerpents ought to have been more forward.

mercer, have you tried the flash on the camera? I don't like it as it washes out my shots (blander colors, less contrast), but your pix seem dark and your army's dark paint job get obscured.

Or is that dakka's auto correct? I find that it tends to put in too much dark/black, and then my DE models lose their details in the pictures.


Good read, as always.

Used the flash and it washes out the colour and you cannnot see anything else. I think it's a combination of in a normal lit room and dark paint job.

ThePhish wrote:Good Batrep. I think that your opponent could have used a decent counter-charge unit to throw at your beasts. Although, being eldar, I don't think that would work out well

Thanks about the report, though Eldar have no counter charge units..they do shooting.

Ah another good batrep. I have to say I really thought the flowerpansies had a shot looking at the lists. I think if he had first turn or stolen int then the game would have been different. I also agree that his deployment seemed off. Why not put the walkers back a ways?
As for the fire prism vs war walker debate. They both have their benefits and do their best when run exclusively and max the HS slots. So max walkers or max prisms. Against DE I would have taken walkers. Anything tougher and the prisms come out. Walkers are more survivable and can continue operating after being shot. Fire prisms take a single weapon destroyed result and they are worthless. So without tailoring I'd go with walkers.

You know what dude, I was expecting a loss. Those War Walker units could have easily hammered my Ravagers to bits and the Fire Dragons sold themselves to stop Trueborn. Everything else then blasts Venoms to at least stop them shooting. But alas, the flower pansies time to shine wasn't due yet .

Not sure on the War Walkers deployment. I was quite amazed about that single War Walker been close to me, easy target. Also surprised as I keep telling John about deployment and he gets it nearly spot on most times.

mercer wrote:You know what dude, I was expecting a loss. Those War Walker units could have easily hammered my Ravagers to bits and the Fire Dragons sold themselves to stop Trueborn.

Not when he is rolling 1s and 2s - Melta from Fds scoring wpn destroyed and immob on venom with AP1 and open topped.
With that kind of luck, no one can win regardless of the list or tactic.

Fire Dragons only fired at me once, which was my point on tactics. The other two units got shot to bits before they even got out their transports themselves. That was the only time he fired those Dragons and indeed it was poor rolls at that point.

No, I actually mean boring. I play both DE and Eldar, win most of my games, but I don't have lists like this. I just don't find these types of lists enjoyable to play, or play against. Everything is the same. Yawn. The batrep he did though is great. Great pictures, terrain, etc. My only gripe is the armies used are boring.

wileythenord wrote:By boring, he means competitive.

I like the Craftworld list a lot, even if I hate those flower eating pansies

Automatically Appended Next Post:

What would you do to change those armies?

Focus more on creating redundancy with different units vs. fielding the minimum X3 of everything. You don't need to have maximum spam to create redundancy in a list. :shrug: I'll never understand how playing these types of armies keeps people interested in the game..but that's just me. Meh. Hopefully, your next batrep has a better matchup. Your reports are always interesting visually.

Cheers.

Well, everything is easier to remember! Each to their own about what style of army you like to play, though the game still plays the same. . Though, you still didn't answer my question, what would you change in both those armies?

And btw, I am the Dark Eldar player