Campaign - Surprise At Pearl - Conclusion

Notes:

This was a 2000 point standard rescue mission from the standard 3rd edition 40k rulebook. It ended in a Draw as no one had secured the objective at the end. It was literally touch and go the whole time; and it all came down to a final failed break test by the ogryns!

[Scarpia's note - we were supposed to play three battles this morning, but due to the weather I had to step out to secure provisions before we got snowed in. As such, we skipped to mission two on the tree. This game also took about 5 hours, meaning that our poor Eldar player only got on battle in, as he arrived too late the day before to participate.]

Battle Report:

Eldar Summary & Conclusions:

Kinda wish I had a Rulebook. Not fully understanding the ramifications of the Scenario setup, I thought my Eldar were totally screwed. I like to put Guardians out there as fodder and follow up with my Aspects. But the scenario called for "Troops" to be placed at setup, with all others arriving as reserves. The Biel-tan Swordwind army is setup opposite of the other Eldar...with Aspects being "Troops" and Guardians being "Elites." Imperial Guard get like...Battalions of tanks and stuff in comparison. Oh Well, so much for strategy! The Imperials went first as well. They found the objective mere inches from their deployment. "Rescue" became "Defend" before the hunt even began. Again, so much for strategy. This was going to be ugly...for the Eldar.

Turn 1 Starting in the East, my Falcon got wiped out immediately, and the dazed Scorpions riders went ducking for cover. The nearby Fire Dragons re-evaluated their position as well. A couple Reapers bit the dust from Missiles and Multi-Lasers. The Banshees started coming round the mountain in the far West. Not much else was on the board for the Eldar.

The Reapers got to immobilize and blow up a weapon on a Chimera, and that was about it. The following turns saw equipment and personnel begin to arrive. On the East end, The Wraithlord arrived and began harassing the newly arrived Leman Russ. The Scorpions and Fire Dragons began the slow process of running to the action on the West end. They never did make it. The Scorpions did manage to harass a Chimera in the middle of the battlefield by the end of the game. The Fire Dragons were just too damn slow to get anywhere effective.

Midfield, the Dire Avengers managed to round a building before taking some casualties, but ended the battle pushing toward the objective in the open field. The War Walker arrived on Turn 3 and managed to help the Wraithlord harass the Leman Russ. It got taken out by some Multi-Lasers I believe, after some failed Hunter-Killer attacks. The Reapers were pretty effective at stalling anything across the middle. They lasted quite a while. I believe the Exarch finally bit the dust on Turn 5.

The Farseer was a non-combatant; using his Ghosthelm to Guide and give Fortune to the Reapers at first, and then the D-Cannon Batteries. Just to the west of him, Guardian squads with Warlocks and Star Cannon support began the push to the objective between the mountain and the ruins. They made the all important fodder shield ahead of the D-Cannons, which would become critical to the outcome. Eventually, they were all cut down by Multi-Laser shots and the Leman Russ when it could fire, but overall, their selfless heroism in the face of hopeless odds might have saved the day! OK, so they soaked up a lot of shots...but that's their job dammit! Anyway, on to the battle.

Coming in on Turn 2, the Warp Spiders began jumping through this gap. Using the mountain, and then the building as cover, they waited for the right opportunity, taking casualties along the way. Turn 3 saw the arrival of the Swooping Hawks. The dumped their grenades on some Las-Cannons taking out some crew. But typical to the Guard, 2 more popped up for every 1 killed. Oh well. They finished off their Deep Strike taking the objective away the the burnt out husk of the Chimera which originally grabbed it.

Decision time. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I decided to jump the sole remaining Warp Spider into the objective. Knowing that a hailstorm of Multi-Laser, Heavy Stubber, and Heavy Bolter were coming, I had hoped at least 1 model would survive that could "jump" away with the objective in tow. Alas, not today. They all got roasted and shot full of holes. Was close though...I thing the Warp Spider Exarch got wasted on his last, or close to last shot.

Meanwhile, the Banshees couldn't even get close enough to help. Coming round that mountain was tough, and they broke and rallied just to get wasted the next turn. In the far West, the Vypers arrived on Turn 3 and shot up the Western border to...in theory, either grab the objective and Boogie-out; or to sweep behind the building on the Imperial side and cause some serious troop damage. Well, the theory was good I thought. Imperial guns brought down the first Vyper after 1 round. The Second Vyper occupied a Chimera for a bit, but got killed in the crossfire between the mountain and the building. Again, oh well.

Also along this edge, the Wraithguard plodded steadily along under the direction of their Warlock. They made it within firing distance of the objective on the last turn, only to find it blocked by another Chimera. The Imperials in true cheese-alicious fashion used their armour to block the path to the objective from the West. Not that the Wraithguard could've made it there, but he didn't want his precious Ogryns to get shot at. What a bunch of pansies...can't rely on their own race, so he gets Ogryn's to do his dirty work.

I knew they would be coming, just didn't know when. They came on Turn 5, got dropped off, took the vacant objective, and had their taxi driver make a roadblock. So I did the only thing any self-respecting Farseer could do; use the Warp! The D-Cannons had been steadily moving up and got within range of the objective on Turn 5. Taking some pot-shots on Turn 5, I managed to hurt the Ogryns an bit. Then on Turn 6, they caused some more damage. It seems the Ogryn were a little scared facing such immense firepower. In true Imperial fashion, they BROKE!!! FUMBLE!!!

Objective dropped, the Ogryn's pissed on the commissar when they ran past him. Game Over. With no one in control of the objective, the game ended as a Draw.

In conclusion, I think my Eldar fared pretty well considering all the miscues.

1. I didn't understand the deployment.
2. I brought the wrong weapons. (Second Edition syndrome)
3. The Imperials found the objective inches from their Deployment Zone.

From Turn 1, I realized I would have to be aggressive in getting to the objective. Luckily, I had brought in the Hawks and Warp Spiders for that purpose. They made a significant impact on Turns 3 & 4, being pesky enough to allow the D-Cannons and Guardians to advance to position. I'm pretty bent about the Wave Serpent...that sucked. Would've liked to have seen it on the field for at least a turn or 2. The Wraithlord is the MAN! If I had rolled a little better, the Leman Russ would've been toast. He did his job though, and drew enough attention and firepower his direction. The War Walker was essentially just an annoyance, again succumbing to inferior dice roiling. The Reapers rocked. If Guardians had been able to get in front of them, I think they could've done even better. The Vypers gave me a mixed result. A lot of shots, but unfortunately not very effective against armour. Next time I'll give them Bright Lances. If I had known this was the only scenario I would play in, I would've brought in my 250 points of Warlock led JetBikers!!! They might have been able to get the objective and keep it.

Overall I was pleased. The Imperials should've wiped me out given the situation as it unfolded. He had enough dudes to do the job...why didn't you rush the objective and just take it? You had too many men and I didn't have enough men...or range for that matter to contest it. Were my Swooping Hawks that annoying/effective when they grabbed it? I dunno. Until next time!!!

-Farseer Iggy

	Imperial Guard initial deployment
	The Eldar were in more limited numbers. Here a full Falcon and Fire Dragons line up.
	Turn one saw the Falcon get immobilized, and correspondingly destroyed.
	The Dire Avengers move towards the objective, using a building as cover.
	These chimeras popped smoke for cover
	Our IG player was very fortunate as he found the objective almost immediately with this chimera, just a scant few inches from his lines.
	Finally, the Eldar get reinforcements in the way of vypers, guardians, wraithguard...
	and a Wraithlord.
	In true dramatic Eldar fashion, it came down to this move. The offending chimera was destroyed, and these swooping hawks dropped right in on the objective proper.
	With a double jump that cost a life, the Warp Spiders put themselves in place to accept a hand off on the objective. All they had to do was survive one round of IG shooting, and they could jump out of there.
	Alas, that proved more difficult than foreseen as both the Hawks and the Spiders were eliminated.
	Not giving up, the Eldar continued to advance, these guardians providing screening cover for the D-Cannons.
	On the other side of the table, this Wraithlord caused no end of trouble.
	With a warwalker providing covering fire, the Fire Dragons and Scorpions advance towards the objective.
	Just too far away...the Fire Dragons and Scorpions would not be able to help,
	These ogryns turned out to be the decisive unit. Due to their cowardice under fire, they broke and fled, leaving the objective unclaimed and the battle a tie!

'ere is dem nasty legal bits:

Fiction work is the sole work of Thomas Garbelotti, Emil Iglesias, & Jon Pito. Eldar graphics were taken from www.eldaronline.com, ork graphics were taken from Imperial Armor II and www.forgeworld.co.uk, no challange to their status or to the copyrights are intended.

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