Guarding Guardian
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Ilvien’s thoughts were focused on the information he had been given by the Autarch. He did not relish the notion of engaging in another war so soon after his last battle with the Tyranid Hive. But it was necessary, and he always did his duty. And to do that, they required the dataslates. If he could retrieve them from this ruined human settlement, they would be able to figure out how to best approach the problem. The Farseer stepped out of the Webway onto this new planet, leading the small strike force he had brought along.
Bolter fire ripped through the trees, blowing apart a Striking Scorpion standing next to him. A scream of psychic energy rent the air around him as Ilvien dropped to avoid the incoming fire. Why hadn’t he foreseen this attack? The Shadow of the Hivemind must still be interfering with his powers. He cast his thoughts about trying to determine who this unknown attacker could be. He mind recoiled at the foul presence that he sensed. Chaos had come looking for the data too.
My gaming group has decided to hold a painting escalation tournament. We started with 500 points of newly painted models for the first week. Every two weeks we will have tournament games and the points value that is needed will be increased by 250. The tournament is really just a way to have inspiration to get the armies painted and to help everyone learn 6th edition better, without too much of a competitive aspect. If we get any money for prizes it will be going to categories like “Most Improved Painter” and the like.
To start off the tournament, we were only required to have one HQ and one Troop choice in our list. Also, we were not allowed to have any vehicles with an armour value higher than 12 and no flyers were allowed. We would be playing on a 4’ by 4’ board. I decided to take a list of some of my favorite Eldar units, especially since I was completely redoing the colour scheme of my army (some of these models were painted when I was 12, it was time for an update).
Eldar:
Farseer Ilvien (Farseer - Singing Spear, Guide, Mind War)
Rangers x5
Dire Avengers x5 - Exarch+Double Catapult
Warp Spiders x5 - Exarch+Double Death Spinner
Striking Scorpions x5 - Exarch+Biting Blade,Stalker
My opponent was one of the members of our group who normally loves playing completely power gaming lists. Apparently it took him three tries to come up with an army list for this tournament that he didn’t think would be too overpowered. He was playing Chaos Space Marines. Here’s his list as far as I remember, though I’m sure I don’t have some things there and I don’t know the army very well.
Chaos Space Marines:
Sorcerer - Icon, some psychic power (he traded it out)
Chaos Marines x5 - Flamer
Chaos Marines x5 - Flamer
Rhino
Terminators x5 - Combi-flamer, Autocannon
I wasn’t able to focus very much on the battle (as I’m sure you will see), so I apologize if I remember anything incorrectly. I did take some pictures but largely forgot to do so. I’ll add them in later, as I don’t have my camera right now.
Battlefield:
(All directions in this report are relative to my point of view.)
We rolled short table edges for deployment. The board was set up very ruin heavy. His side had three ruins, one in the center, one on the left, and one on the right. The was a large LOS-blocking ruin in the middle of the board, with another ruin on the left of it. I had a large hill in the center of my zone and a mysterious forest on the right. We rolled for it right away rather than waiting for someone to move into it. It turned out to be the one where if you roll a four or higher for moving through it you are attacked.
Mission:
We rolled for mission and it came up as The Relic. The relic was placed in the center of the central ruins.
Additional Set-Up:
We rolled for warlord traits. My opponent rolled on the Strategic chart, and got the redeployment. I also rolled on the Strategic chart and got to choose if we had night fighting in the first turn.
He rolled for his psychic power on Telepathy, and then just swapped out for Psychic Shriek. I rolled on Divination and ended up with Scrier’s Gaze and Prescience.
Deployment:
He deployed first, placing one of his Chaos Marine squads in the ruin in the center of his zone. The other squad and the Sorcerer started in the Rhino to the right of this. The Terminators waited to deepstrike.
I placed my Scorpions and may Avengers behind the hill on my side. The Farseer joined the Avengers. The Warp Spiders prepared to deepstrike. I decided to infiltrate my Rangers after he had re-deployed with his warlord trait.
He re-deployed the squad in the ruins. He was able to roll high enough that he moved them over into the ruins on the left side of his zone. The prevented me from infiltrating my Rangers into any of the ruins on the board.
For some reason, I decided that I would just have my Rangers move instantly to take the relic, so I set them up behind the central ruins out of sight of all his units. I think my plan was to get into the ruins, get the relic, and then have a good cover save, but there was no one close enough to support them quickly, leaving them out on their own.
I decide that we will start the game with night-fighting and he takes the first turn.
Initial Strategy:
As I said above, I guess my strategy was to move into the ruins and just hold the relic. Overall, not a very well thought out plan.
Chaos Turn 1:
My opponent moved his Rhino up around the ruins and fired out of its top hatch. He managed to kill one of my Rangers with shots from the Rhino.
Eldar Turn 1:
My Farseer cast Prescience on the Scorpions, though there wasn’t really much of a point on this turn. I moved my Rangers up into the ruins so that they can get some good cover. The Scorpions move up from behind the hill and the Avengers follow them.
The Rangers attempted some snapshots, I think they were targeted at the Chaos Squad in the ruins. No casualties were caused.
Chaos Turn 2:
The Terminators continued to wait in reserve while the Marines in the Rhino piled out into and around the ruins. The Sorcerer remained inside, protected by the vehicle hull.
Both Chaos Marine squads then opened fire on the Rangers. Despite the good cover saves, three of the remaining four were killed. The Sorcerer let out a wail of psychic energy, targeting my Striking Scorpions. The Scorpions were overwhelmed by the shriek, and three of their number, including the Exarch, died to the psychic assault. As an afterthought, the Rhino shot at the Scorpions as well, killing one more.
The single Scorpion and the lone Ranger took their morale tests. The Scorpion decided to fight on, but the Ranger had had enough. He broke and ran.
Eldar Turn 2:
It was my second turn and things were already looking pretty bad. I needed reinforcements. Ilvien cast Scrier’s Gaze to ensure that they would arrive. I rolled three fours for my reserves, meaning there wasn’t any choice in the matter anyways.
The Warp Spiders dropped down behind the enemy forces by the Rhino. It was a risky drop, but I knew that they were my best bet for destroying it. If I let it live my opponent could get the relic inside it and I would be hard pressed to win.
The Avengers moved out all the way around the hill to get line of sight on the Chaos Marine squad by the relic. As I moved them out I realized that they were in pretty much perfect flamer formation, and remarked on this. I felt it was necessary though, since I needed all of their shots to attack the Marine unit.
The Ranger continued falling back, and the Scorpion moved closer to the ruins to hide himself for now and approach the enemy.
The Warp Spiders then opened fire on the Rhino’s rear armour. It was very close, but I was able to remove enough hull points to wreck it, gaining first blood. The Sorcerer climbed out of the useless vehicle.
The Avengers then unleashed their might upon the Chaos Squad and succeeded in causing a total of zero kills. That was incredibly useful. I’m so glad I put them in a perfect flamer position so that they could cause such massive damage to my opponent.
I jump my Warp Spiders in the assault phase, trying to get them some cover behind the forest, then pass the turn to my opponent.
Chaos Turn 3:
The Terminators and their combi-flamer decide now is the time to arrive. This is when I learn that my opponent has the Icon on his Sorcerer. The unit deep strikes directly in front of the Dire Avengers, lining up the flame template.
The squad in the center moves slightly and grabs the relic, turning to face the Warp Spiders while the Sorcerer joins them. The Marines in the far ruins sit still.
The Sorcerer then unleashes a shriek at the Warp Spiders. They roll low enough on their leadership that they do not take any wounds, but then the bolters fire into them, slaying two.
The Terminators then unleash their power onto the Dire Avengers and Farseer. After all his rolls I am being hit by 8 wounds from the bolters and flamer and 2 wound from the autocannon. He decided I need to save the Str 4 shots first so that the instant death causing ones will make it to my Farseer, who is the third back. The front two Dire Avengers fail their saves instantly, leaving 8 more shots at my Farseer.
The Dire Avenger behind him then decides its time to be a hero. He succeed in the six look out sirs for the bolters, and makes his 4+ save every time. He doesn’t protect against the first autocannon, but Ilvien’s Rune Armour protect him, and the Dire Avenger takes the final autocannon shot, dying to protect his Farseer.
My opponent’s turn ends, and my leader is still standing. The Warp Spiders pass their morale test.
Eldar Turn 3:
The game is looking pretty grim for me. I only have 8 models left, one of whom is fleeing, while I have only been able to destroy a single vehicle. The chance of victory is almost non-existent, but I wasn’t willing to give up. I could try to get a tie if I played smart and luck was with me.
I started by casting Prescience on the Dire Avenger squad. Maybe this turn they could help me. My Ranger was a few inches from the board edge, so I rolled for his morale, hoping for insane courage. I rolled a 9. He fell back farther, and here I rolled the 2! If only those had been switched. At least I would get one more round of snapshots from him. My Scorpion decided to move up into the ruins to assault the Chaos Marine squad. I knew my only chance of a tie was destroying his troops and denying him the relic. However, I rolled double 1s for difficult terrain and couldn’t even move up into it.
The Avengers advanced slightly, setting up line of sight on the Marines. The Warp Spiders also jumped around to get a better angle on them. I then unleashed all of my firepower onto the single squad.
The Warp Spiders hit with six of their attacks. Needing a 2+ to wound, I was feeling pretty confident that my opponent would have to make a lot of saves. Then I rolled four ones. At least a little luck was on my side, as my opponent failed both of those saves.
The Avengers then fired their catapults. Their attacks completely made up for the Warp Spider’s incompetence. The other three Marines in the squad died. Dropping the relic and leaving the Sorcerer all alone.
The Ranger tried a potshot at the Terminators but failed to hit. The Striking Scorpion ran up into the ruins by the relic to defend it. The Warp Spiders then jumped away from the Sorcerer. This turn had gone well for me, but I was still in a horrible position.
Chaos Turn 4:
With one of his two troop choices destroyed, my opponent needed to get the other to the relic. The second Marine squad moved out of the ruins and advanced towards the center of the board. His Sorcerer followed after the Spiders, and the Terminators simply held their ground.
His shooting phase started with the Sorcerer shrieking at the Warp Spiders again. This time, they succeeded in Denying the Witch, protecting them from his malign powers.
The Dire Avengers and Farseer were not as lucky. The Terminators unloaded into them with bolter and autocannon, wiping out the rest of the squad.
The Marine squad then shot at the Warp Spiders and succeeded in taking one out, leaving me with three models on the board.
Eldar Turn 4:
I had pretty much no chance of victory, but I would not give up. I jumped my Warp Spiders over towards the Marines, while my Striking Scorpion moved over to shoot at them as well. One fell to the combined fire of my troops. Then the Warp Spiders tried to jump farther from the Sorcerer and rolled doubles, leaving only the Exarch from the squad.
Chaos Turn 5:
This was the end. The Sorcerer moved and was still able to get in range. My Warp Spider Exarch could no longer withstand the energy and was incapacitated. The Chaos Marines chose not to fire and instead assaulted my single Striking Scorpion in the ruin. I was unable to wound him and was torn apart in combat, leaving only Chaos on the board.
Result: Chaos Victory.
After Battle Thoughts:
This battle was probably the worst I have ever fought in. For one thing, the dice were almost completely against me. In my opponent’s words, “You pretty much had reverse probability. If you were supposed to succeed two thirds of the time you failed two thirds of the time.”
However, the poor rolling was minor compared to the tactical errors I made. I was using my units in completely wrong roles, my target priority was terrible, and I didn’t plan ahead very much at all. I was distracted and not thinking very much about the battle, but that isn’t an excuse. I just hope my opponent still had some fun even with me as a terrible competitor.
I like to decide on my army’s man of the match, but this time I think it is skewed because of my poor use of the units. However, one squad still did really stand out. For killing the relic carrier and protecting the Farseer in such an epic way, I have to give man of the match to the boys in blue.
Men of the Match: Dire Avengers
The brave Dire Avenger threw himself in front of Ilvien, shielding the seer from the flames with his own body. The smell of charred flesh filled the air, mingling with the scent of blood and death. Ilvien quickly grabbed the unfortunate Aspect Warriors spirit stone, turning to the Exarch.
“We can’t let them have those slates. Do whatever is necessary to prevent it.”
The Exarch nodded, and shouted for her squad to take out the Chaos Marines who had stormed the building. Their catapults launched a hail of deadly shurikens, shredding the foe. With that threat handled, they turned to face the deadly threat that was nearly on top of them. The bulky Terminators once again leveled their weapons.
“For Sheamil!” shouted Ilvien, as he charged towards the elite warriors of Chaos. An autocannon round blasted into him, throwing him through the air. The last thing he saw before his vision went dark was the final member of the Scorpions charging into the building to carry out his final orders, covered in the blood of his fallen comrades like some mockery of a painting.
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Brothers of Sanguinor
Purifiers 
Bad Wolves 
Shine bright like Iyanden