The Carnival of Flesh : Raven Guard vs Dark Eldar 1850 pts Battle Report

Right after my lost to the Thousand Sons, I had a game versus a funky Dark Eldar Coven list as follows:

Ancient Haemonculus
Haemonculus
7 Grotesques
3 Splinterborn in Venom
10 Warriors in Raider
2x5 Wracks in Raider
3 Wracks in Venom
10 Scourges
2 Talos
Razorwing Jetfighter

Mission : Purge The Alien, but that wouldn't be fun for the DE so we rolled again --> Big Guns Never Tire (5), Night Fight in play.
Deployment : Dawn of War, RG chose to go second.

As can be seen in the picture below, the Coven deployed 2 Talos on the left flank and everything else to the right. Only the Razorwing was in Reserves.

I deployed the Centurions to counter the Talos. Chapter Master and the Assault Marines were deployed in the centre, hidden from the Scourges by the large Bastion. One Snipers infiltrated to the left and one more right behind the large Bastion. Finally, Shrike and the Vanguard Veterans infiltrated behind the small Bastion.


At the dawn of war

My attempt at Seize The Initiative failed and the Coven went first. The Talos split, one moved towards the objective and the other backed away towards the square build. Scourges jumped down from the tower and then the shooting began. 60+ poisoned shots and 3 Dark Lance killed 4 Assault Marine, took one wound off my Chapter Master, and killed 1 Centurion. Guess what? Both the Centurions and Chapter Master's unit failed Morale Check and fled towards the table edge. Lucky the Chapter Master and Assault Marines rolled low on the 3D6, stopping just about 2 inches from the table edge ( Phew! ). The Centurions fled 3 inches.

Came my First Turn, 10 man Tactical in 2 Combat Squads make a drop right beside the tower. 1st  Combat Squad destroyed a Raider (First Blood!)with 10 man DE Warriors, killing 6 Warriors in the explosion, forcing the survivors to flee 10 inches. 2nd Combat Squad Rapid Fired towards the Scourges, killed 2-3 of them.

The Centurions rallied and killed the Talos on the left. Prior to that, Shrike and the VVets already made their move towards the Talos, so now they were stranded in the open. The Chapter Master and his retinues jumped towards the small Bastion, safe from any enemy LOS. The Snipers at the centre embarked the Bastion, onto the Battlement and sat still.

Ooh.. here comes the pain

2nd Turn. Razorwing jetfighter entered the game and targeted the VVets with 2 Monoscythe Missiles, a Splinter Cannon and a Dark Lance. Lucky my saves were quite good where only 3 Veterans (all with Storm Shield) fell as casualties. Several poisoned weapons also targeted them but in the end, Shrike survived with 5 VVets. The rest of the army focussed their attention at the 2 Tactical Combat Squads behind their line, which they successfully destroyed with shooting and assault.

Came my turn, the Storm Raven arrived just in time to stop the Razorwing. Shrike led his unit to the square structure, closer to the Talos. Centurions shot at the Talos, causing 2 wounds. Deathwind Launcher targeted the Scourges, easily hitting 6 Scourges and a Venom (Splinterborn inside) if I rolled a Hit!, but alas, it scattered far towards the Grotesques, causing some wounds (Don't remember how many).

Then the Chapter Master ordered an Orbital Bombardment to strike at the same target, this time a Hit!. The Venom instantly destroyed, the Splinterborns pinned. 4 Scourges died, leaving only 3 left to fight. Additionally, the explosion also killed 2 more Warriors nearby, forcing them to flee off table.

Things were getting even

On the 3rd Turn, my opponent decided that it was a good time to start making a move towards the other objectives. 2 Raiders with 5 Wracks each split from the main force. One moved to the south of the large Bastion, the other one to the centre. Some poison shots reached the Centurions, causing one unsaved wound.

My opponent deemed that the Drop Pod with its deadly Deathwind Launcher a serious threat to his fragile troops. So he pulled back the Grotesques and wrecked it in assault. In the same phase, the Talos assaulted Shrike and the VVets, but Shrike slay it with the Ravens Talons.

When it was my turn, I pushed Shrike's and his unit towards a Venom (3 Wracks inside), they destroyed it in assault and the explosion pinned the passengers. Towards the centre, the Chapter Master led the Assault Marines to destroy a Raider, also in assault.

As for the last Raider to the South, I chased it with the Storm Raven but the gunship only managed to a weapon destroyed result. However, the Raider was within range of one Gravcannon, which wrecked it with an Immobilised result due to moving Flat Out in the previous turn. 5 Wracks inside passed the pinning test and moved towards the Bastion. Fully expecting that, the Snipers on the battlement had earlier moved into the Bastion to prevent the Wracks from entering it in the next turn. The Scouts on the left flank moved closer to an objective.

We're getting there 

Turn 4. The Grotesques moved towards the centre, they're going after the Chapter Master and his unit, but still too far for a charge. Scourges and Splinterborne shot at Shrikes unit, killing two Vets. The Wracks at the centre killed 2 Assault Marines with Liquifier Gun. The Wracks down south moved into base contact with the Bastion and shot Liquifier Gun through the Fire Points, killing 2 Scouts.

The Chapter Master showed the boys how real men fight.. ALONE!

This turn, I focussed on killing all the DE troops to secure my win. Strom Raven destroyed the Wracks hugging the Bastion. Shrike and his team killed the 3 Wracks up on the rocky terrain, and the Assault Marines killed the Wracks at the centre. The game was mine.

With the mission secured, I sent the Chapter Master (Alone!) to fight the Ancient Haemonculus and the Grotesques. However, the Ancient Haemonculus was not without his own tricks. He pulled out a glassy item and threw it to the Chapter Master... a Shattershard! The thing exploded upon impact and forced 2 Toughness Test on my Chapter Master, of which he failed one and was removed from the game with no saves of any kind allowed. Nasty stuff. Good for Wall of Death.

Our mission secured, let us go home boys

5th Turn. Splinterborn and Scourges killed all the VVets and reduced Shrike to a single wound. The Grotesques went after the Assault Marines, killed 2 with Liquifier Gun, but failed to reach assault.

Came my final turn, Shrike and the 2 remaining Assault Marines destroyed the Scourges while the Storm Raven took out the Splinterborn. The Scouts in the Bastion moved out and captured the objective nearby and the game ended.

RESULT:
Coven : Slay The Warlord
Raven Guard : First Blood + Linebreaker + 3 Heavy Supports + 2 Objectives = Raven Guard Won!!

Post-game Assessment:
The game was really fun. Both our list was quite even, fun and fluffy. This kind of game is the one that I enjoyed the most. His list had the advantage of range and uber CC unit. While mine has fast infantry and better survivability. We had equal chance to win at the start of the game.

The Tactical Combat Squads and Drop Pod with Deathwind Launcher is the catalyst for my win. Bt deploying them behind the enemy, I managed to divert his attention (especially the Grotesques) away from me. That gives me ample time to do what was needed to win me the game.

What also mades the different was his rolls for the poisoned weapons which was quite low. On the other hand, my rolls were superbly good on several occasions. My rolls were so good that I almost lost the Chapter Master and Assault Marines early on due to failed morale check. Even the Chapter Master rolled high on the Shattershard (hahaha).

Vanguards didn't do much in the game, what they did was protect Shrike, which can be done cheaper with regular Assault Marines. The Centurions on the other hand, did great taking out the Talos. Those are the only target worth their attention anyway since everything else was with 5+/6+ armoursaves which can just laugh out at their Gravcannons.

It was a very fun game. One I truly enjoyed.

That's all for today and thanks for reading.

MERRY CRISTMAS TO ALL!

Have a nice day :)