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The Interactive Battle Report is a regular feature of TWF, and I wanted to try an experiment to see if it would work as well on Dakka. A little background on the Interactive Battle Report, for those who don't visit TWF: Originally, a TWFer named jonpegg came up with the idea of posting a battle report in segments, only posting a turn at a time and letting people discuss the game in progress in between turns. The result is usually some great discussion over what is happening in the battle, tactica, where things are going right or wrong, etc.

In the past, the IBR has been restricted to WFB only, because I hadn't adequately developed a system for 40k. Now, I believe that I have. So, I give to you, the very first 40k Interactive Battle Report!

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Zejindas the Farseer frowned grimly. The tall, lanky alien standing before him did not seem to register the danger of placing an outpost on top of such an active Chaos portal. The Master Shaper simply repeated the same phrase over and over again, in a hissing, broken version of the Tau language:

"This outpost is for the greater good."

Even the Farseer's offer to help relocate the outpost to a less active part of the planet had failed. The Kroot Mercenaries were dead set on completing their mission as planned.

Zejindas's heart was heavy. If the Kroot would not listen to reason, they would have to be eliminated. It was an unfortunate misunderstanding, but one which, ultimately, would be more beneficial to the universe. He motioned to the Rangers hiding just inside the treeline. Eldar troops and vehicles began to appear on the horizon.

The Master Shaper clucked a low, somber sound, then spread his wings and lifted into the air. Instantly, dozens of Kroot slowly emerged from the shadows of the forests, and the Master Shaper joined five other Shapers in the air, as the Kroot descended upon the Eldar.

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This mission was randomly generated as GAMMA LEVEL SEEK AND DESTROY. Relic_OMO, a regular on DakkaDakka, agreed to command his normal tournament Eldar forces. For my part, I have been itching to try out a full-on Kroot Mercenary list for some time now, and this was my chance. We took turns placing terrain.

The board is dominated in the center by the Kroot Outpost. Pipes connect the outpost to a couple of Silos. The Outpost was a 5+ cover save; the silos were impassable, and the pipes were normal terrain for infantry, but impassable to vehicles, walkers, and bikes. Three sets of 4+ save ruins were placed around the perimeter of the table, and a few forests were scattered to provide some LOS blocking. A large level 2/3 hill centered the top of the table, with a smaller level 2 hill toward the southwest, and a level 2 vista in the lower southwest corner.

The Eldar army looked like this:

HQ:
Farseer, Guide, Shuriken pistol - 71
Farseer, Fortune, Shuriken pistol - 61

ELITE:
5 Howling Banshees + 1 Exarch, Executioner, Acrobatics - 125
5 Striking Scorpions + 1 Exarch, Scorpions Claw, Wave Serpent w/-
Twinlinked Brightlances - 248
5 Fire Dragons + 1 Exarch, Firepike, Wave Serpent w/- Twinlinked
Brightlances - 256

TROOPS:
3 Rangers - 57
5 Storm Guardians, 2 Flamers, Haywire Grenades + 1 Warlock,
Witchblade, Destructor, + Wave Serpent w/- Twinlinked Brightlances -
227

FAST ATTACK:
4 Swooping Hawks + 1 Exarch, Web of Skulls, Shuriken Pistol,
Sustained Assault - 157
Vyper w/- Scatter Laser - 55
Vyper w/- Scatter Laser - 55

HEAVY SUPPORT:
4 Dark Reapers + 1 Exarch, Reaper Launcher, Crack Shot - 213
3 Shadow Weavers - 135
Falcon w/- Starcannon, Spirit Stones, Holofield - 190

The Kroot Mercenary army looked like this:

HQ:
Master Shaper w/ Meltagun, Wings, Blood of the Stalker, Kroothawk Totem, and Mark of the Favored Child - 136
Shaper Council w/ Wings, Close Combat Weapons and 5 Meltaguns - 270

ELITES:
None

TROOPS:
15 Kroot Carnivores + Shaper w/ Eviscerator and Slugga - 175
15 Kroot Carnivores + Shaper w/ Eviscerator and Slugga - 175
11 Kroot Carnivores + Shaper w/ Eviscerator and Slugga - 143
11 Kroot Carnivores + Shaper w/ Eviscerator and Slugga - 143
11 Kroot Carnivores + Shaper w/ Eviscerator and Slugga - 143

FAST ATTACK:
9 Vulture Kindred + Shaper w/ Eviscerator - 166
20 Kroot Carnivores + 20 Kroot Hounds w/ Hyper Nymune Organ + Shaper w/ Eviscerator, Blood of the Stalker and Surefoot Charm - 396

HEAVY SUPPORT:
9 Hunter Kindred + Shaper w/ Auspex - 103

The Kroot won the rolloff for first deployment and had the Eldar deploy first, only to reveal that the entire Kroot army was infiltrating. The Eldar deployed the rest of its army.

The Kroot Hound Kindred used the Shaper's Blood of the Stalker to infiltrate 6" closer to the Eldar lines, hiding behind a stand of trees. The Rangers were placed in the Kroot deployment zone, then the rest of the Kroot infiltrated onto the table.

Here is a key, to help you keep track of which unit is which:

The final deployment map looked like this:

The Vypers flanked the ruins in the upper left, with the Wave Serpent and Falcon shielded behind the ruins to most of the table. Shadow Weavers hugged the edge of the ruins, while the Dark Reapers and both Farseers spread out in the ruins. Two Wave Serpents parked behind the hill, obscured but not fully shielded from line of sight. The Striking Scorpions headed into the trees on the far right flank.

The Master Shaper and Shaper Council infiltrated onto the front tower of the Outpost, while the Hunters took the main body of the Outpost. Vultures hid in the building's shadow, while the Carnivores snuck through the pipes. Kroot took the lower right ruins, as well as the central trees. Two units went right out into the open, each with their own mission. 

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So there's your first installment! Who got the better of the deployment phase? Which army is going to pull it out? How do you like the compositions of both armies? Now is your chance to discuss. This is the interactive part...so interact!

Cool idea, this deserves front page billing!

Here are my thoughts:  Of the two lists, I'd say the Eldar have the edge, they've brought a lot of Dakka to the party via their vehicles, and I'm not sure the kroot have enough anti-vehicle for the job.

Also, I like the Eldar deployment MUCH better.  The broad deployment that the Kroot have chosen means the eldar can use there speed to bring all their vehicles to the left side of the map (Kroot Left flank, eldar right) and have point superiority against a small element of the Kroot force.  They can then proceed to 'flank roll' the Kroot.

In short, the eldar units are in a better position to support each other than the Kroot.  IMHO.

It will be fun to see what happens.

I think the kroot have an uphill battle ahead of them. The Eldar have a LOT of skimmers, and the kroot are going to have a tough time bringing them down. RussWakelin summed it up pretty well.

The kroot deployment is a little confusing. I'd like to know what the kroot commander is thinking, because I too think it looks a little spread out. The kroots' best bet is to win first turn and get a few charges in while the skimmers are still in range.

Range is a little tough to judge on this. How close is that massive kroot squad to the skimmers? Many units have those dark reapers in range?

I'm not quiet sure about this, but I always thought, the Kroot Mercenarie List sucked. big time.

but it's definitly a great Idea, I would love to see some photos of the table

I don't know too much about Kroot Mercs but my gut instinct says the Eldar are a tough army for them to take on. The skimmers shouldn't be in too much trouble barring any first turn shennigans and I agree with Russ' deployment assessment. Why pick such an obscure army for a first time experiment on these boards? A more standard army might have eased us newbies into the actions...

Nevertheless, I'll be tuning in regularly to see how it pans out - I love a good battle report.

Ok, I can understand all of the deployments except for one, why was that kindred squad deplyed in the lower right corner of the board??? There are so many better deployments.

My guess is that he's trying to spread out a bit so he always has a unit to pounce on wherever those wave serpents go. The Eldar army certainly has the advantage but it's unfortunate that it includes three serpent with twin-linked bright lances.

Going through some of the kroot stuff right now and trying to view their perspective on the battle since I'm rather unfamiliar with the army. I'm having a hard time forming an oppinion as to how it would go at this point. Since most of the Eldar firepower is on the vehicles, the vypers will be a priority. d6 instant death shots to the shaper council where all of the good anti-tank power is concentrated is bad, the brightlances would be much more manageable.

I think the Eldar will also need to focus on thinning the unit numbers before assaulting. Yes space elfs are wicked in combat but you need to thin the numbers first if the dice are unkind to you. Being outnumbered 3 or 4 to 1 and losing often leads to massacres.

In spite of the low return value here for the bright lances, the Eldar have a lot going for them with all the pinning weapons and casualties they can cause per round forcing a whole lot of checks for the Kroot to be able to do anything. Ultimately, they don't even need 2 wounds each to do well in this battle!

I'm thinking a good opportunity to tank shock a unit, have it fail its morale check, then double flamer it down to half w/ no chance to rally should come up at least once. Then again I'm fairly wreckless with my own Eldar army, and would probably do so even if it meant losing a serpent and the guardians in the process

I notice that the big kroothound unit on the left is sandwiched between 2 fairly large chunks of trees. I think, if they can make it to either one, they'll provide a decent sized speed bump. Might cause problems with rolling up a flank. Could provide a good rally point.

I notice the only kroot unit fairly far from cover is the carnivore unit on the far right. Then again, they might be getting used as bait for waveserpents B and C, as well as the scorpions. If the eldar take the bait, the shaper council might be able to jump out and take 1 of the transports down, with a carnivore squad and vulture squad maybe close enough to make life rough for the remainder.

Taking another look at it, both units of carnivores in the open can be used as bait, with large amounts of kroot nearby both to close the trap (and get stuck in CC, safe from shooting).

The only part of the kroot deployment that puzzles me, is the squad in the lower right ruins. They're hoofing it, are far from where the main action will be, and (since they're kroot) don't have really great ranged weapons fire, so they really can't provide fire support of any consiquence.

Honestly, I think the Kroot deployed fairly well. They enjoy such a large numerical advantage, they can actually afford to spread out a bit.



Russ already touched upon what the Eldar's best bet is. I think the Kroot's best bet would be to actually split his forces. Concentrate the hounds, 1 squad of carnivores and maybe the vultures on the left, consolidate the rest of his forces center, where there's plenty of cover to take advantage of, and able to respond to all areas of the table. Again, as he enjoys such a large numerical advantage, the normal taboo of splitting forces is mitigated.

Sucks for the eldar player that the brightlances are wasted.

I wonder why the Vipers are placed so openly. Wouldnt they have been better off behind the ruin, where the Falcon hides?

Now let me ad that I like the idea of an interactive Battlereport a lot and that your effort is highly appreciated. The choice of armys is nice either, since I too find it hard to guess how the Kroot will prevail. The Skimmers will be quite hard to take down. On the other hand the Eldar might have problems with such a horde. Their weapons have a lot of wasted quality and lack in quantity versus Kroot.

TURN ONE

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The Master Shaper lifted his Kroothawk Totem, and signaled his army to attack. A wave of Kroot Hounds spilled out of the forest, urged on by their Kroot masters. The Vultures and Shapers took to the sky, advancing on the Eldar. Kroot raced through the forests and through the pipes of the outpost.

 

Now in position, the Kroot Carnivores who were out in the open loosed a volley of energy blasts at the Vyper, ripping open its propulsion system and shearing the Scatter Laser from its hull. The Eldar skimmer sank to the ground, immobilized and without a weapon.

 

The Shaper Council opened fire with a deadly barrage of meltagun fire, easily penetrating the armor and the energy field of the red Wave Serpent, and it exploded in a ball of fire. One Fire Dragon burned in the blaze as the others spilled out from the rear of the falling vehicle, entangled in its wreckage.

 

The Vultures? shots mostly bounced off of the hull of the downed Vyper, severely stunning the crew. Meanwhile, the Kroot slid closer to the forest, pelting the Striking Scorpions with firepower, and thinning their number by one.

 

The Hunter Cadre took careful aim at the Dark Reapers, but their Shaper was hissing a barrage of commands to target the Shadow Weavers instead. His leadership wasn?t enough to convince his unit, and they blasted two Dark Reapers into oblivion. The stoic warriors refused to budge or be pinned by sniper fire.

 

Kroot Hounds and their companion Kroot moved even closer to the Eldar, using their Surefoot Charm to ensure their fleet feet enough distance to reach the Eldar lines in assault (rolled a double 5 on the Surefoot roll?not a bad Fleet at all). They continued their momentum directly into the Eldar lines, slamming into both the startled Farseer and the Dark Reapers. The Reapers pulled down one Kroot before the wave of attacks swept over them. Amazingly, the Reapers? armor held against the majority of the attacks, and only one died. The Farseer, however, was not so lucky, and was almost immediately ripped to shreds by the Kroot Hounds. The Dark Reaper exarch intoned to his remaining man to stand firm, and the two braced themselves for their inevitable doom as the Kroot and Hounds closed in around them.

 

 

The Farseer grimaced at the sight of his colleague falling to the ground under a tide of Kroot. Grimly, he concentrated, Guiding the Falcon at his flank. Striking Scorpions rushed out of the forest into the open, while the Wave Serpent turned sharply and swooped low through the Kroot Hound ranks, attempting to tank shock them. The nimble Hounds leaped out of the way at the last second, allowing the Serpent to pass. A small band of Howling Banshees jumped deftly from the rear of the Falcon as it too passed over the Kroot Hounds, but the leadership of the Shaper kept the Hounds firmly in combat, and free from shock.

 

The last Wave Serpent swooped down, delivering a payload of Storm Guardians and a Warlock, all of whom switched on their flamers. The Vyper skitted around the side of the close combat, taking aim.

 

The Eldar immediately took advantage of the Kroot general?s poor planning. Had the general been smarter than a bag of bricks, he would have landed with his Shaper Council on the far side of the level 3 portion of the hill instead of on top of it, blocking him and his Council from the majority of Eldar fire. Instead, like chimpanzees, he and his Council landed on top of the hill, wearing huge signs that read, ?Hey! We?re expensive and fragile! Shoot us!? Three Shapers were instantly killed by the incoming fire of the Falcon, and another was instantly gunned down by Brightlance fire from the green Wave Serpent. The Mark of the Favored Child saved the Master Shaper from the Brightlance fire of the last Wave Serpent, although his lone companion was lightly wounded by the Shuriken fire. The two Shapers held firm with the Master Shaper?s incredible leadership.

 

The Rangers took a few well aimed shots at the Hunter Cadre on the Outpost, but they managed to duck behind cover at the last moment, and the shots bounced harmlessly off of the walls.

 

The Shadow Weaver battery powered up, and dropped three extremely precise blasts on top of the Kroot Carnivores who were standing in the open. Seven of them lie at the bottom of the craters when the barrage ended, and the unit panicked, falling back toward the Kroot lines (7?).

 

The Guardians and their Warlock drenched the Vultures in flamers and destructors, thinning their numbers significantly. The Shaper held his unit together, barely, and their eyes were full of malice as they swooped from the sky toward the Eldar.

 

The Howling Banshees leaped into combat with the Kroot Hounds, and the Striking Scorpions barreled toward the Kroot Carnivores. Three Kroot went down to Mandiblaster fire, leaving only a handful to fight. They chopped two Scorpions to the dirt, and then piled in for the protracted fight.

 

Howling Banshee exarch and her unit cut a bloody swath through the Kroot Hounds, dropping nine of them like flies. The Banshee?s armor protected them from the returning attacks, but the Dark Reapers were not so lucky, and were decimated by the Kroot. The Kroot held tight, and pressed in against the Howling Banshees.

 

 

So there?s Turn One, sports fans! How did the opening gambits go? Who got the early advantage? Why is the Kroot general such an f-ing moron that he inadvertently lost 80% of his Shaper Council by not planning ahead?

 

Discuss, discuss, discuss!

So there?s Turn One, sports fans! How did the opening gambits go? Who got the early advantage? Why is the Kroot general such an f-ing moron that he inadvertently lost 80% of his Shaper Council by not planning ahead?

Depends, how old is the Kroot general?

Love the concept of an interactive battle report btw

Would the Kroot general happen to go by a handle that starts with a X?

As usual, a lot depends on getting first turn. Kroot need it in general to avoid getting gunned down, and Eldar need it to get their skimmers moving so they get the "glancing only" bonus.

I'd say early advantage is Eldar. The Scorpions and the Banshees are right where they want to be and should continue to rock out. The Vultures need to get into cc with the Stormguard squad and try and make some points back. Other than that it will be interesting to see which direction the Eldar vehicles head this turn.

I'd say the scorpions are in a bad spot. 1 model away from half strength, and surrounded by kroot, 1 of which is an eviscerator toting shaper. Not good.

Question. How were the banshees able to get into combat? They deployed from a transport. Last I checked, they had to sit around and twiddle their thumbs for the rest of the turn. Or did the wave serpent get a stealth upgrade assault ramp in a FAQ somewhere? All that aside, the banshees got lucky. They should have taken some casualties there. As it stands, they're still vastly outnumbered, and St-3 power weapons are still St-3. I don't think they'll survive for long.

Speaking of not surviving for long... that shaper council better start hiding. Better yet, go out in a blaze of glory, and take down the blue waveserpent. They might even have the mobility to get around to the back, and forgo that protective shield silliness.

Kroot should move the far right carnivore squad to support/finish off the scorpions. Move both of the lower center carnivore squads to remove the ranger nusance. And, again, I have no idea what should be done with the kroot in the lower right ruins, aside from starting to move them to the center of the board, where they can offer support in the later portions of the game.

A possible good idea for the Shaper & what's left of his council would be to turn off their eviscerators and assault the Fire Dragons. It is unlikely that either side would do significant damage to each other in the Kroot player's turn. Then, in the Eldar player's turn, have the shapers swing with the eviscerators. Probably clear out the whole squad, or at least make them run off the board. After that, the Kroot player will have his turn with the Shapers having done something useful as well as surviving another turn to try to make up some points somewhere else.

Sal.

Kudos to the Eldar player for infiltrating his Rangers into the opponents zone. He took a risk but it seems to pay off. Either a kroot unit has to care for them and is practically out of range to do anything else, or the Rangers will shoot all game unmolested.

I think the kroot got the better of round one. Downed two skimmers and engaged some expensive units in melee combat? Every turn in melee is a turn the kroot are going to make points and avoid getting gunned down. I don't think things many eldar units, especially the expensive ones like scorpians and banshees, have the umph (numbers, power, whatever) to get the best of a protracted fight with a kroot horde.

The kroot player needs to start piling in now, I think. The lower-right hand kroot squad in the building needs to shoot those rangers. if they're out of range, they need to start moving. I'd send the unit closest to the rangers in as well, to rapid fire or assault as range dictate.

Saldiven- I don't know if I like your plan for the shaper council. There are plenty of units that can take the firedragons out....their weapons aren't really suited to hunting down kroot. I think I'd rather have the council attempt to take out the wave serpent. With two melta shots at close range, and a few eviserator attacks on the following charge, they should get a pair of shaken results. Good chance to drag another skimmer down, and you've got to take those oppotunities when you can. Anything on the ground (or AV10) the kroot can easily dispatch, but the skimmers really bug me.

It has been argued that if a unit deploys from its transport before it moves, both may conduct normal moves and assaults. I believe that is an incorrect interpretation, but I didn't really feel like arguing it at the time. Or maybe I'm wrong, and that's how it's played.

Xtapl- that's how I understand disembarking from a vehicle prior to movement works.

Oh, they deployed prior to the waveserpent moving. That was played right then. I though (for some odd reason) that it was after the serpent moved.

The Eldar player is in a very rough position at this point. The reapers were destroyed without getting so much as a shot off, the storm guardians are going to be counter assaulted and very likely wiped out, the batteries are on the verge of being overrun, and the scorpions are likely going to be broken if not killed outright in combat next round. Nothing broke and nothing was pinned on the Eldar players turn, and that is exactly what the Eldar player needed to have happen to get some breathing room and momentum going in their direction.

I would have risked exposing the back of the wave serpent with the storm guardians to get the extra flamer hits. He needed to wipe out those vultures in order for the storm guardians to have a chance of surviving a counter assault. As is I would bet on them to come out on top and kill the Storm Guardians next turn.

It's gonna take luck for those banshees and scorpions to win their fights, and even if the scorps win I don't think they have the numbers to win against any other unit afterwards, essentially negating them.

Really a tough call which way to go with that Hound pack. They are behind the Wave Serpent and Falcon. Unfortunately, I've never played as or against Eldar, so I don't know the stats on those vehicles at the moment. But if the Hounds can strike against them, and they are AV10 or less on the backsides, I'd try to knock them both down. On the charge, they should get enough attacks to overcome the low chance of penetration per attack. Of course, that all depends on if they can acutally hit them or not with a chance of success. If they can't, I'd go after the weapons platforms instead.

The biggest thing hurting the kroot right now is those other three units too far away to contribute. Big numbers are really only effective if you use them in big numbers, and he is borderline on using hits troops in too small a concentration and is definitely too spread out right now. He needs to get that right side formed up a bit better and start shooting and pushing into the Eldar while he can.

Overalll though, if the Kroot do well in turn 2, I think they are close to rolling over the Eldar. Especially if they are in a position to assault those two skimmers.

I think the kroot player can put off dealing with the vehicles right now. We're looking at, what? 5-6 shots from that falcon and waveserpent (bit fuzzy on their stats at the moment). With his numbers, those are acceptable losses.

Those weapon platforms, however, need to go. After dealing with the banshees, I think that should be the next priority for the hound pack.  Getting rid of that other farseer wouldn't hurt one bit either.

True, but the weapons platforms aren't going to be going very far in one turn, those vehicles may not present an chance like that again. Especially considering how few weapons the Kroot have that can punch AV11 or more, I think it will be best to take the opportunity while it is there to destroy them.  Otherwise, they may be around the rest of the game.  Most likely, the platforms won't be moving at all and will probably stay and shoot, which means they can definitely be shot at or possibly even assaulted in turn 3. Given the numbers and position of the hound pack, I don't think it will have a problem doing both and absorbing any losses from units currently in range.

-Hans

Xtapl- a unit can absolutely disembark and act as normal if it does so before the vehicle moves. Bear in mind, however, that the disembarkation and the rest of the move must be done together, so the tank may wind up obstructing your ideal move.

I too thought this: "A small band of Howling Banshees jumped deftly from the rear of the Falcon as it too passed over the Kroot Hounds, but the leadership of the Shaper kept the Hounds firmly in combat, and free from shock." might mean that the Falcon moved first and the Banshees hopped out afterwards, which WOULD have prevented the Banshees from assaulting, but when I looked closely at the diagram it looked like you had done it right.

This is a good game at the moment, but it does seem to come down somewhat on the side of the kroot unless the Eldar can catch some hot dice.  The Eldar had good positioning with the skimmers but too many units on the ground to make this an easy fight.

I like the idea of an interactive battle report. Can we get these tools somewhere? That would be great. I would start making them myself. Since I don't know the armies that well I am having a hard time with just color coding.

Like many of you, I wish I could add more to the discussion, but have liittle experience with one of the armies, namely the kroot. But, I have lots of experience with eldar and lots with Khorne. And this is shaping up just like half of my Khorne vs Eldar games. They are all one sided, just not all for the same side. I say this game is about one turn from over. It can still go either way although I say advantage Khorne (oops, I mean kroot) because all of those juicy victory points are ready to be harvested since the transports have unloaded. If I were the eldar I think I would have concentrated everything one one flank (top left) and ignored the meltas (although they did have flight didn't they?) that way survivors could get back in their transports and made a concentrated effort elsewhere at the endgame. The hawks are still in reserve, but they are a small unit and had better land outside of charge didstance, and pick off a weak unit.

I think the skimmers can now all be ignored except for the viper, although I might take the two melta shots next turn and sacrifice my expensive unit.

Did the kroot unit on the far right deploy back to try to deny the scouts that spot? If I were playing khorne I would ignore the scouts. Can the kroot do that? Probably not, but I doubt they are a huge priority. Kill the scorpions, banshees, guardian, heavy weapons and viper. All but the viper seem achievable soon.

I think it's time for the Kroot to unleash their secret weapon- the two(2) Great Knarlocs they have in reserve (the ones Xtapl "forgot" to tell us about). That'll sure shock the unsuspecting Eldar player.

Ha ha! Just kidding. The Kroot really have five(5) Great Knarlocs in reserve.

No, really, I agree with Hans that the Council should keep targeting the armor. They are the only ones with guns that can take out the armor value 11 or more and trying to take out skimmers in close combat, needing sixes to hit, is not a reliable way to do things. You buy the Council not so that they can live but so that they can try and make their points back in dead vechicles before they die. If the Council doesn't take out the skimmers while they still can, the Kroot will have to deal with them sticking around for the rest of the game (most likely anyway).

The platform is definitely a threat, but others can take care of it letting the Council do the job they were tooled up for.

I'm rooting for the Kroot, as they are almost always the underdog (is that a pun?).

P.S. This is a really fun, cool idea. How come no one's thought of this before? Way to go Xtapl!

Turn Two

The Kroot Carnivores continued to fall back, although with only a short fall back roll (7?), they not only remained on the battlefield, but were quite usefully in rapid fire range of the Rangers in the forest. Their compatriots rushed out of the forest to add their firepower to the mix. Kroot started pouring out of the forest in the northeast, advancing rapidly on the Striking Scorpions, while the Vultures floated gracefully over to the rear of the Wave Serpent. The Master Shaper and his lone ally swooped from the sky toward the Eldar vehicles.

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The Kroot pelted the forest ground cover with firepower, riddling the Rangers with shells and easily wiping them out (13 wounds scored on the three Rangers from two rapid-firing units. Ouch.). The Hunters on the watchtower turned their sights to the Guardian Storm squad, dropping almost the entire unit, save the Warlock and one lone flamer-toting Guardian. The Eldar bravely held their ground.

 

The Kroot Master Shaper hissed, and initiated his diabolical plan. With the rear hatch of the Wave Serpent blocked, the Master Shaper and his Council attaché unloaded two melta blasts into the Wave Serpent. Their blasts knocked out the transport?s stabilizers (glancing 5), and it was moving so fast, it could not right itself. The Wave Serpent crashed into the ground, and the Kroot lines sent up a piercing cheer. However, their joy was only half-founded, as it turned out that the Wave Serpent was empty, and the trick wasn?t so clever after all. Still, it was another skimmer downed.

 

The Vultures soared into assault on the Falcon while the Kroot joined their brethren in combat with the Scorpions. Unfortunately, the Vulture Shaper couldn?t swing fast enough to hit the Falcon as it flew on by.

 

The Banshee exarch leaped acrobatically to the outskirts of the combat, and combined with her sisters to kill four Kroot. The Kroot fought back viciously, killing two more Banshees, and the Shaper pulled down another. Still, they were locked in combat, giving the platforms one more turn to shoot.

 

The Scorpions knocked three Kroot out of the unit they were originally fighting before falling under a bucketload of attacks and two very angry Shapers swinging three-foot-long chainsaws . The Kroot consolidated by spreading out. Wide.

 

 

From the sky, a unit of Swooping Hawks gracefully floated toward the ground, throwing a handful of grenades on the Kroot in the south as they landed. Shells exploded everywhere, dropping three of the Kroot to the ground. The Falcon turned on a dime and plowed straight through the Vultures, who quickly leaped out of the way. If the Kroot general had been smarter than five rocks, he might have attempted a Death or Glory, since he had gone through all that trouble of giving the Shaper an eviscerator, which is designed to crack open tanks, and since Death or Glory removes the one problem with fighting skimmers by allowing the attack to automatically hit. But the Kroot general?s settings were apparently stuck on ?stupid,? and the Vultures just glided harmlessly to the side and allowed the Falcon to pass. The Farseer rushed out of the ruins, hightailing it, while the Fire Dragons regrouped themselves and advanced.

 

The Shadow Weavers dropped three direct hits on the Hunter Kindred, blowing six of them to smithereens. The other four promptly lost their nerve and fled. The Fire Dragons instantly killed the Shaper attending to the Master Shaper, but the Master Shaper himself was unharmed.

 

The Wave Serpent and Vyper combined their firepower to wipe out the Vultures, which served them right for not taking out the Falcon when they had the chance. The Swooping Hawks continued to chip away at the Kroot unit to the south, killing two more.

 

While the Storm Guardian and the Warlock were fleeting along, the Fire Dragons charged in against the Master Shaper. The old Kroot?s reflexes were amazing, as he fended off blow after blow. The Fire Dragons could not penetrate his defenses even once, and the Master Shaper struck back with equal precision, and not a single wound was scored in the combat.

 

The Farseer charged in to help out the Banshees, and the Eldar swung with mighty speed and agility. The Kroot were prepared for them, however, and evaded the incoming attacks. With inhuman quickness, the Hounds were on top of the Farseer, ripping two deep gashes into him. The Kroot slashed the remaining Banshees to death, leaving just the Exarch and the Farseer. The Farseer turned to flee, and was brought down by the pursuing hounds (nine more hits, three more wounds, two failed saves), but, much to the Kroot?s disappointment, the Banshee Exarch?s stoic leadership kept her planted firmly in the combat (rolled a lucky 3).

 

 

There?s your second turn! Mistakes everywhere! Is the Kroot general ever going to start playing smart? Will the Eldar be able to hold up the Kroot indefinitely? And how will they deal with the skimmers?

 

Discuss!