Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Part 2 in our 5 part series.


Game # 2

After winning I move on up and get Shep’s IG. I know Shep from the Vegas GT where I was the only one to slow down his Ork army and get a tie from him while his other 4 opponents got crushed by him. I was in LA a couple of months ago and I wanted to know how tough Mech IG are with the new codex and he was posting some batreps with his Mech IG and I able to get a hold of him and he was nice enough to invite me over to play a game at his house. I ended up barely winning (it was really a tie where he would have won if the game ended on turn 5, a tie on turn 6, but it went 7 turns and I won. So I look at it as a tie but who ever got lucky with the turn dice would win.)

When I was walking around and checking out the armies, his army is the one that scared me the most. I hate Mech armies, and his was brutal. So I knew that I would face Shep sooner or latter and I got lucky and was able to play him in a round where the scenario really favored me.


My list!

HQ
Eldrad

Avatar

Elite
5 Fire Dragons
Exarch w/Dragon’s breath flamer

6Harlequins w/5 Kisses, 2 Fusion Pistols
Shadow Seer w/Kiss
Troupe Master w/Power Weapon

Troops
10 Guardians w/Brightlance
10 Guardians w/Brightlance
10 Guardians w/Missile Launcher

3 Eldar Jetbikes w/Shuriken Cannon
Warlock w/Singing Spear, Destructor

Heavy Support
3 War Walkers w/Scatter Lasers
3 War Walkers w/Scatter Lasers

Falcon w/Missile Launcher, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-Field, Spirit Stone, Star Engines, Vectored Engines


Shep’s List:

HQ
Company Command squad 4x meltaguns in a chimera with hull heavy flamer
Company Command squad 4x meltaguns in a chimera with hull heavy flamer

Elite
Psyker Battle Squad with two extra psykers in a chimera with hull heavy flamer

Troops
Veterans with 3x plasma guns in a chimera with hull heavy flamer
Veterans with 3x plasma guns in a chimera with hull heavy flamer
Veterans with 3x plasma guns in a chimera with hull heavy flamer

Fast Attack
Banewolf with hull heavy flamer and smoke launchers
Banewolf with hull heavy flamer and smoke launchers

Heavy Support
3x Hydras

Manticore with hull heavy flamer
Manticore with hull heavy flamer

A tough Mech IG list


Mission: Modified Capture and Control
One Objective placed in the center of the table. Objective can be picked up and moved 6” a turn. You drop the objective if you run or fleet, or lose combat.

You win if you are able to get the objective off of you opponent’s table edge.

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Game Length: 7 Turns

Special Rules:
Infiltrate
Deep Strike
Outflank
Reserves

My Strategy for the game:
Take a fortuned Avatar and grab the objective and make a run for the border! Since he can kill all he wants, and it will not affect the win/loss so I will try to give him plenty of targets on the flanks and try to lessen the fire from the Avatar. I will also keep Eldrad and Harlequins close to him to pick up the objective in case he goes tits up.

I really can’t lose this mission, but I can tie. There is no way that he can come up and take possession of the objective and walk it off of the table though my army. I kind of felt bad because I want missions that are balanced and I have at least a chance at losing.

Set up
See the picture below for set up.

He has his Chimeras in from of his Hydras on the left. His 2 Manticores are on the far right.
I have the 2 War Walker squads on both flanks, and the Falcon with the Fire Dragons on the left.


I win the die roll and choose to go first

Turn #1

Eldar turn #1
I run forward and stake my claim for the objective.

I needed to take out those Hydras so I fly my Falcon forward and unload the Fire Dragons and do about 3 damage results on them and he makes all of his obscured rolls. Then I shot the Hydras with my War Walkers and do 6 Glances! He makes 5 out of 6 obscured rolls and I stun one Hydra. Hmmm, things are not looking good. On the right a bright lance stuns a manticore, and the War Walkers shoot the weapon off of the other.



Close up

Imperial Guard turn #1
His Hydras down my Falcon, and the Chimeras on the left shoot at my War Walker and one on them kills 2 Walkers.



Turn #2

Eldar turn #2
I try to move my Avatar forward and I get caught in the woods and only move 3”. I am worried about my Harlies getting BBQed with all of the hull heavy flamers, so I try to stay a back a little with them.


Imperial Guard turn #2
He moves up and tried to wall in my Avatar.
He unloads on my Avatar and does 3 wounds to him.


Turn #3

Eldar turn #3
Now the game really begins.

I move forward the Jetbikes, 1 War Walker in the left, and a brightlance or 2 shoots at the Hyrdas stunning them and knocking off a weapon.

Avatar and Harlequins shoot their meltas and then assault the vehicles wounding several of them.


Look at all of the green damage markers!

Imperial Guard turn #3
He backs up an inch so that I only hit on 4s. He shoots a lot of things at my Avatar and I make all of his saves. His Manticore turns around and flames my Harlies, but they make most of their saves, and I lose only 2 of them (I forgot about that stupid manticore still has a weapon). His other manticore finally gets to shoot and it takes out one of my War Walkers, and stuns the other 2. An infantry squad got out of his chimera to kill 3 of my jetbikes.


Turn #4

Eldar turn #4
My War Walker on the left charges the infantry squad that shot my jetbikes, and locks them up in assault for the rest of the game. The 2 War Walkers on the right charge the shooting Manticore and they kill it in assault. My last jetbike hides in the hydras. I continue to shot, kick and claw at the Chimera wall.



Imperial Guard turn #4
He keeps shooting at my Avatar, but is shooting has diminished greatly and he just can’t do that last wound.


Close up

Turn #5

Eldar turn #5
Still grinding forward killing chimeras. The War Walkers on the left unload on the side of those Hydras and start to do some real damage killing one.



Close up

Imperial Guard turn #5
He is running out of tanks, and everything that can move starts to try to cut off my Avatar.




Turn #6

Eldar turn #6
I am not meeting much opposition, so the question is can I get off of the board in 7 turns?
The tanks in front the Avatar are dead, but there is his command squad (that you can’t see behind it). I charge the squad with the Avatar with the hope of getting a good consolidation move, and set me up for a move off of the board in turn #7. I hit the command squad and kill a lot of them and only the company commander is left alive after making his Inv save, and he holds (The Avatar is standing on the Hellhound in front of him, but the model would not balance on it).



Imperial Guard turn #6
He takes his PBS and forms a ring around the avatar, and behind them he forms a ring with an infantry squad to try to hold my Avatar off of the table.

At the end of the turn we do our combat and the Avatar hits once and he makes his Inv save and he stands, and there is no way I can get off of the table at that point and we call it a game.



I end up with a lot of victory points. He just has a few guys left alive. I have a lot still alive since he stopped shooting at a lot of my army after turn 2. I wish I could have played him in a better scenario and it would have been a better game, and a true test of skill.

It was some crazy luck that the Avatar survived all that concentrated fire. As for the mission itself, I've noticed a few tournaments this year adopt missions that appear to handicap mech armies. This could be a way of fighting the overwhelming move in this direction.

This mission doesn't handicap mech armies (vehicles could pick up the objective), it handicaps armies without good assualt units.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thanks for the Bat Rep Blackmoor.

It's good to see a Batrep with two skilled players and to see how they are solving problems throughout the game. Nice report. Looking forward to seeing the others.

Haha, that game had me sweating profusely.

I had seen the mission weeks ago, and decided that I couldn't win. But I also thought that no one would be able to score on me either.

Then the morning of the tourney, they extended the deployment zones of both armies to 18". There went my calculations!

Blackmoor wanted it really bad, and had a pretty decent chance of scoring that touchdown. It was literally all I could do to survive, throwing half-wrecked vehicles in front of him all game.

You won't find a more crap mission at a tourney, but you also couldn't ask for a better opponent to suffer through it with.

Agreed. That mission is lame. I had a similar no-win mission at the Necro this year.

Thanks for all the pics and report.

Did anyone 'win' the mission at the tournament? Were you able to grab it and get in a vehicle?

- Blackbone

Blackbone wrote:Thanks for all the pics and report.

Did anyone 'win' the mission at the tournament? Were you able to grab it and get in a vehicle?

- Blackbone

a very small handfull of people won in this mission.. You were unable to embark in a transport with the objective, also if a transport picked it up any unit inside of it had to disembark.

I want to say only 2 or 3 people actually won, give or take.

It was too bad you guys didn't face off in a more balanced scenario. I like creative scenrios over the same ole BGB ones but that just sounds unfun all around.

Wonder if some teleportation trickery coulda worked (suppose they coulda ruled against that though).

I heard of two winners.

there were likely many more on the lower tables who had opponents who didn't prepare for the mission.

Nearby us... there was a necron player who was phased out (auto-loss on mission). And a marine player tabled his opponent early enough to JUST make it off in 7 turns.

Even worse, was I had a friend who actually tabled his opponent, the guy who ultimately won 2nd place, but it was ruled that even though he tabled him, he tied because he wasn't able to get the stupid football off the table.

A truly crap mission.

As was said, at the top tables there were only a very few.

In game 5 I went against the only undefeated player.

Blackmoor wrote:As was said, at the top tables there were only a very few.

In game 5 I went against the only undefeated player.

Very good job. I am truthfully stunned at how many shots that avatar took. I said in another thread and now in this, great job for using an unusual (and most would call bad) list and doing so damn well!

Props 100%.

if he had gone first, couldnt he have

1)moved the banewolves up to screen you from getting to the objective-pop smoke etc.
2)drove a chimera up to take the objective.

If he would have driven his army up in a wedge (flying v from mighty ducks...or not) couldn't he have done what he did to keep you from winning...but won himself?

I'm going off of an earlier statement in this thread that claimed that vehicles could grab the marker. Correct me if I'm wrong. It seems like this one went to whoever could get something hard to kill (chimera in cover, fortuned avatar) to the marker first and make it alive to the other side by turn 2/3.

thanatos67 wrote:if he had gone first, couldnt he have

1)moved the banewolves up to screen you from getting to the objective-pop smoke etc.
2)drove a chimera up to take the objective.

If he would have driven his army up in a wedge (flying v from mighty ducks...or not) couldn't he have done what he did to keep you from winning...but won himself?

I'm going off of an earlier statement in this thread that claimed that vehicles could grab the marker. Correct me if I'm wrong. It seems like this one went to whoever could get something hard to kill (chimera in cover, fortuned avatar) to the marker first and make it alive to the other side by turn 2/3.

Going TOWARDS the Eldar player means less shooting AND allows the Avatar to get to you faster. Not a good combo.

EzeKK wrote:

Very good job. I am truthfully stunned at how many shots that avatar took. I said in another thread and now in this, great job for using an unusual (and most would call bad) list and doing so damn well!

Props 100%.

Well, kind of lucky. A fortuned Avatar is very hard to kill.

In fact, taking 3 wounds on turn #2 was me rolling below average. Remember he has a lot of flamers and melta that the Avatar is immunte to, and the rest has a lot of BS 3, and trouble with toughness 6. Only his Plasma really posed a threat. After turn 2, his shooting was greatly diminished.

But I will say that after taking 3 wounds, I was sweating every shot after that.

That is a freekin nice avatar.

Great report Allan! You really took it to the treadheads!

G

EzeKK wrote:

thanatos67 wrote:if he had gone first, couldnt he have

1)moved the banewolves up to screen you from getting to the objective-pop smoke etc.
2)drove a chimera up to take the objective.

If he would have driven his army up in a wedge (flying v from mighty ducks...or not) couldn't he have done what he did to keep you from winning...but won himself?

I'm going off of an earlier statement in this thread that claimed that vehicles could grab the marker. Correct me if I'm wrong. It seems like this one went to whoever could get something hard to kill (chimera in cover, fortuned avatar) to the marker first and make it alive to the other side by turn 2/3.

Going TOWARDS the Eldar player means less shooting AND allows the Avatar to get to you faster. Not a good combo.

this is true...i wasn't implying shep did something wrong by playing the draw I guess I'm just more of a risk taker. Im curious as to why allan didnt try to take a fortuned falcon off the table with the objective? i mean i would think thats an instant win turn 2, even with hydras shooting at you.

nonetheless this was an excellent display of tactics by both players. lucky avatars are always fun lol

The real deal-sealer for most folks was that once a unit had picked up "the football" it could only move 6 inches max for the rest of the game or it would drop "the ball".