Battle Report Azure Flames vs. Eldar Combo 1750pts

Time for another battle report at Highland Library!  This game was against Ian, a veteran Dark Eldar player.  This game took place within the context of the ongoing campaign I mentioned earlier, so they use the old GW “Immortals” rules for experience.

Scenario

Each army gets a mysterious objective in their deployment zone worth 2 victory points.  There is a SUPER mysterious objective with a weird chart to roll on in the center worth 3 victory points.  Dawn of War deployment. (12″ from long table edge).  All units can hold objectives, unless it is a non-walker vehicle that is trying to contest a point held by enemy infantry or walkers.  Basically a Rhino can hold an objective if no one else is there.

Azure Flames – Bozeman

-Antonius, Captain of the 4th Company.  Power Axe, Plasma Pistol, Artificer Armour, Melta Bombs. (campaign items: Camo Cloak, Combi-melta shot, 18″ plasma pistol)

-6 Assault Terminators with Storm Shields in a dedicated Land Raider Crusader

-Tactical Squad, Combi Flamer, Powerfist, Meltagun, Missile Launcher in a Rhino with Extra Armor

-Tactical Squad, Combi Flamer, Powerfist, Meltagun, Missile Launcher in a Drop Pod

-Ironclad Dreadnought with heavy flamer in a Drop Pod

-5 man Scout Squad with a Powerfist in a Land Speeder Storm

-3 Land Speeders with Multi Meltas and Heavy Flamers

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Dark Eldar with Eldar Allies – Ian (Note: I do not know the specifics of this list)

-Lord with a lot of wargear (Immortal)

-Wych squad in a Raider

-Warrior squad in a raider

-Ravager

-Succubus character with whips that re-roll to hit and to wound.

-5 Incubi in a Venom

-Razorwing Jetfighter

-Farseer

-5 Wraithblades

-Wave Serpent

-5 Rangers

-5 Rangers

Initial Setup

Turn 1 Combined Eldar

Dark Lance takes out the Land Raider because there was almost no terrain on the board, it being used elsewhere.  Venom with Incubi and Wych character zooms ahead.  Wave serpent closes in on mysterious objective.  Other skimmer move up and kill a few Terminators.  Oddly the Ravager fails to kill the Rhino.

Turn 1 Azure Flames

Rhino moves up pops smoke.  Tatsquad in crater makes a huge tactical error firing at the Ravager.  Terminators and Antonius consolidate around objective.  2nd tatsquad drops in and annihilates Rangers on enemy objective in forest.  Land speeders bake the Venom to death with glancing hits.

Turn 2 Combined Eldar

Wych character and Incubi eat most of the Tactical squad in the crater.  Combined fire kills all the terminators.  Farseer and Wraithblades disembark Wave Serpent and take the central Objective.  A weird effect causes one Wraithblade to die.  Ravager kills the drop pod.

Turn 2 Azure Flames

Ironclad Dreadnought drops in and puts a glance on one of the Raiders.  Rhino Tank Shocks Wraithblades, and one of them dies in a Death or Glory!  Land Speeders move flat out.  NOTE: in the picture below, I took it before resolving the combat, so the two Tactical Marines near the bottom died in combat.

Turn 3 Combined Eldar

Wych character and Incubi assault the back of the Rhino, glancing it.  Wave Serpent and Raider knock down 2 Land Speeders.  Jetfighter kills 8 Tactical Marines.  Antonius takes 1 wound from fire.

Turn 3 Azure Flames

Tactical Marines try to kill Wave Serpent, but fail. Land Speeder kills one Incubus.  Antonius shoots down the Raider with his Melta shot.  Ironclad Dread assaults the Farseer and Wraithblades, kills two.  No effect from the central objective (it became a kitten?)

Turn 4 Combined Eldar

Due to movement constraints, the Jetfighter is ineffectual.  Melta shot kills Antonius outright.  Ravager kills Drop Pod, and Wave Serpent kills Land Speeder.  Dreadnought kills Farseer and last Wraithblade.  Wych and Incubi put the last glance on the Rhino.

Turn 4 Azure Flames

Land Speeder Storm comes in, Scouts take enemy objective.  Ironclad walks over, kills Wych character and Incubi, and overruns back to the objective which oddly heals him?  I don’t know.

Turn 5 Combined Eldar

Wave Serpent kills 4/5 Scouts, Sergeant flees 4″ and is still on the objecive, regroups.  Immortal Lord and Wyches advance on the central objective.  Ravager and Raider put one Pen on the Dread, but it’s Crew Shaken.  Jetfighter kills the Land Speeder Storm.

Turn 5 Azure Flames

Dreadnought snap-fires at Raider ineffectually.  Game ends.

Final Victory Points

Azure Flames 5, Combined Eldar 0.

Final Analysis: HOLY CRAP.  I got the shit kicked out of me, had 2 models left, and STILL WON?  Odd.  First, flyers are a problem for a dude who stopped in 5th.  I need air support.  Second, vehicles are not all that anymore, as glancing results can just tear apart anything.  Third: I AM A BIT RUSTY AT THIS.  The tatsquad in the crater should have shot the Venom, and then the Land Speeders could have mopped up the Wych and Incubi.  I need more practice.  Sadly, I am not likely to get it due to 21st Century Comics and Games in Lansing closing.

All in all, a good game.  My opponent Ian was more than fair and played well.  However I was severely hindered by lack of terrain, and lack of anti-air.  I am moving to Lansing, so I might not be able to play with these guys in the future.  I hope I do, as they are great.  THEY NEED MORE TERRAIN THOUGH.  I donated a box of my old stuff to them, but perhaps they can do a Terrain Building event in the near future.  That would help a lot.

New Place, New Possibilities

Hi all three of you loyal readers!  You may have noticed that I haven’t updated in months.  I got a new job in the district where I had my old job, and I moved.  BUT now that I’m all alone, I can focus on modeling to a greater degree, so without further ado, here’s a list of my current projects:

-The Antonius Project: Thanks to Lexington’s generous gift at Gen Con, I now have a Lugft Huron body and two Tyberos arms from Forge World.  I’m going to make a version of Antonius to be the new Chapter Master of the Azure Flames.  Perhaps there will be a story tie in.

-Dark Eldar Fleet: Currently stinking up my new apartment with carcinogens is my assembled and primed Dark Eldar fleet for Gothic.  Paint scheme will be: white primer -> Ice Blue undercoat -> Turquoise Ink -> 25/75 Turquoise/Ice Blue drybrush -> Boltgun metal blades with a chainmail edging -> Purple lights details with 50/50 pink/purple hughlight, -> purple engines with watered down White wash.  Should look just like the fighter counters I downloaded.  Thanks to whoever Hoja is.  Click below to see.

-Blood Bowl Completion: While I have a fully painted team (Konquata Monitors) and another unpainted (Grimfang Scrappaz) I am missing a few key components such as apothecaries, Bloodweiser Babes, Coaches, Cheerleaders, etc.  I bought enough skinks and goblins at Gen Con to fill out the ranks and finish the accoutrements for both teams.  Additionally, I have to re-do a special character for the Monitors due to him actualy being a skink, not a saurus.

That’s a lot to do!  Expect the Gothic stuff soon, and mini-updates for Blood Bowl.

Antonius, Hero of Tenkath Hive

“Go, go, go!” shouted Antonius. At his command, sixth scout squad burst from the forest, bolters blazing. Their withering fire was directed towards the bunker held by the traitors. Up until five seconds ago, the bunker had been a brutal combat between the traitor Marines and Eldar forces. The Eldar had, finally, been slaughtered, but the Traitors now had only two men standing. A bolt of hideous red plasma scorched the ground at Antonius’ feet.

“Spread formation! Keep suppressing fire on that window!” Antonius ordered. That plasma pistol had to go, or his meager squad of five scouts would not have a chance across this open ground. Sure enough, Xian’s torso disappeared in another plasma blast. Antonius cursed loudly and redoubled his bolter fire into the building until his clip was dry.

“Knives!” Antonius shouted, and was answered by the rasp of each scout drawing their long steel blades. A Chaos Marine popped up to fire his bolter and Antonius dove through the narrow window of the bunker and clothesline tackled the traitor to the ground. The traitor instinctively rolled and kicked upward, sending Antonius flying. Antonius landed hard on his back. He opened his eyes to see the muzzle of a bolter in his face. He winced as he heard the bark of a bolter, and felt warm blood spray all over him. The Chaos Marine above him howled in pain as his arm and part of his torso were disintegrated by a bolter blast. Antonius flexed his back and jumped to his feet. The last traitor, cornered by Joel and Nbutu, swung his glowing red power sword wildly to keep the two scouts at bay. Jolath rushed in to try and close the gap forming between Joel and Nbutu, and keep the traitor pinned. He was neatly sliced in half for his efforts. Antonius screamed in wordless rage and hurled his combat knife. It spun end over end and clanked into the traitor’s wrist, forcing him to drop his power sword. Nbutu took advantage of this and quickly sunk his combat knife under the Traitor’s breastplate. Joel finished the traitor by slashing his neck.

“Are you OK sir? Joel asked.

“I’m fine. Find that beacon and shut it down.” Antonius said as he surveyed the battlefield from the relative safety of the bunker. It was a charnel house. Chaos, Orks, Eldar, and Azure Flames Space Marines littered the grounds surrounding the bunker in all directions. Antonius tried to understand how so much killing had taken only a few short minutes. Orks had made the first move, and were soundly cut down by fire from three sides. Eldar and Chaos had then taken out the forward emplacements of the Azure Flames, leaving only Antonius’ Scout Squad hidden in the trees. The only three warriors on the battlefield left standing were Antonius, and his two squadmates.

“Antonius to Vigilance, emergency Thunderhawk extraction at my coordinates. Send Apothecaries.”

“Confirmed. Medivac flight enroute. How bad is it, brother?”

“Not good. ETA on medivac?”

“Fifteen minutes. Sit tight.”

Antonius turned and addressed the remaining Scouts “Evac in fifteen. Secure the area. What the hell did we come here for?”

“This.” Nbutu said, holding up a sheaf of parchment. Antonius perused it, and his breath caught. It contained security details and shield harmonics and schematics for the planet’s main hive.

“Throne of Terra! Antonius to Vigilance! Priority one warning! Security at Tenkath Hive has been compromised! Advise them to rotate shield frequencies randomly and double their security details at the main shield generators. They have been infiltrated!”

Antonius’ First Battle.

Antonius crouched in the brush of a forest. Nearby, he heard the roar of an enemy jetbike. Sergeant Daniel raised his power sword, and in unison, Antonius and his scout squad stood and readied their shotguns with a loud KA-CHACK.

“Alright, move up and stay out of sight.” Daniel ordered, pointing with his sword. Antonius took point, with Daniel and the rest of the squad trailing. He ghosted from tree to tree, and paused at the edge of the forest. He saw that 3rd Squad had engaged the enemy Eldar, and were severely outnumbered. Antonius yearned to join them as a full Space Marine, but he had at least a year of surgeries and training. He motioned for the squad, and they cautiously moved out of the forest. Suddenly, an Eldar appeared before him. It was red and had a large backpack that resembled a beetle. It raised an exotic looking weapon to him.

“Hit the dirt!” Daniel shouted. Antonius did. The alien’s weapons discharged a weblike stream of gossamer thread. Antonius heard screams behind him. He shouted in wordless rage and pushed himself up off the ground. He discharged his shotgun at one of them, but it had no effect. He ran at another of them, and kicked it in the torso. With a fluid motion, he drew his knife and plunged it into the alien’s throat. Another came at him and exploded. Daniel appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and ran another through with his power sword. The fight seemed to take several hours, as Sergeant Daniel and Antonius fought back to back, slaughtering the aliens. Antonius fought with even more ferocity as he saw the rest of his scout squad, torn to ribbons on the ground behind him. Soon, not one of the teleporting aliens lived. Daniel turned to him.

“We’re not through yet lad! Charge!” Antonius followed him into combat with the aliens fighting 3rd squad. He fought side by side with his brothers in power armor, who stood a foot taller than him and Daniel. One of the aliens raised the butt of its shuriken catapult to Antonius’ temple and he blacked out. He awoke to Daniel slapping him gently in the face.

“Need an Apothecary lad?” He joked.

“No, I’m alright.” Antonius answered.

“Course you are!” Daniel shouted. “So, now you’ve seen action, what do you think of it?”

“What about the rest of the squad? Antonius turned to see an Apothecary standing over them. One was being carried away in a stretcher. The others had sheets draped over them.

“Joshua made it. The others weren’t so lucky. Care about the dead later. We’ve got a war to win.” Daniel clapped him on the shoulder. Antonius nodded. There would always be a war though, Antonius thought. If we stop for each casualty, we’d never get anywhere. Antonius and Daniel joined the remnants of 3rd squad aboard their Rhino, and returned to base. Antonius quietly reflected on his squad mates on the way back to base.

Lightguard Complete! An Xmas miracle!

The Lightguard are complete!  Huzzah!  Next, more Epic Orks!

Lightguard Trooper (running)

Two more to go!

As an interesting sidenote, John (of Battlefleet Gothic fame) will be in town soon.  Expect a battle report!  Also, expect another report as I refresh Lexington in the Battlefleet Gothic rules!  It’s a very Battlefleet Gothic Xmas!

Lightguard Champion

Another Lightguard finally complete!  I have some time off, so I hope to finish the other three before the new year.

Thanksgiving Lightguard Update: Standard Bearer

Happy Thanksgiving from Four Stands Hobby!  Here’s my latest work: the Chapter Banner Bearer for the Lightguard, Perseus’ Honor Guard.  The 11 Star Logo is the logo of the Lightguard, and repersents the 11 stars in the Chasma Spica.

Next: More Lightguard!

Lightguard Update: Azure Flames Chapter Banner

Been a while due to my new job, but this has been worth it!  Behold!  The Chapter Banner of the Azure Flames.  The best 2D art I’ve ever done.  Bit at the top is a putty mould of the torch from the Vampire Counts Corpse Cart.

Next: The rest of the Lightguard!

Lightguard Update

Update to my work in progress: The Lightguard.  Removed some mould lines, added flames to all the legs, and got Salamander Mantles for all of them.  The mantles are Dark Elf Corsair cloaks, essentially mutilated.  Had to cut into them a lot.  Plus, they’re not finished, I have to sculpt the join with the backpacks a bit better.

You’ll also notice that the one with sword upraised has changed poses.  This was difficult, as resin doesn’t want to come unglued.  I had to re-create part of the shoulder pad.  But I think the new pose is much better.

Soon, they will be done.