1500 Cirque de Commorragh Versus Ultramarines

Another game with my friend Brian and his Ultramarines. Have at it ye' scurvy dog!

- Battle Report Notes -

1) I use Vassal to represent games I have played at my local gaming store.

2) I use Vassal as an abstract tool to represent the battle. I use no measurements in Vassal, so one turn a unit may move 6", but only move 3" next turn, but in reality the unit moved 12" total in the 'real life' game. Just remember, this is abstract, so do not get caught up in the visuals, and just enjoy the match!

3) When a Vehicle is damaged, the number of 'explosions' on the vehicle indicates the roll on the Damage Chart. If you see 4 little explosions, that means either it was a straight 4 on the Damage Chart, or maybe a 3, but with a +1 for Open Topped or Melta.

4) As the Dark Eldar player, I cannot answer questions pertaining to what my opponent was thinking when doing certain actions. I will try my best to remember what my opponent verbally tells me, but other than that, I really do not know why my opponent does what he does.

- 1500 Cirque de Commorragh -

Archon W/ Agonizer, Shadowfield

3x Haemonculi

Court of the Archon
2 Medusae
5 Ur-Ghuls
2 Lhemans
3 Sslyths

10 Kabalite Warriors W/ Blaster
10 Kabalite Warriors W/ Blaster
10 Kabalite Warriors W/ Blaster
10 Kabalite Warriors W/ Blaster

5 Beastmasters W/ Agonizer
5 Kymerae
2 Clawed Fiends
4 Razor Wings

5 Beastmasters W/ Agonizer
5 Kymerae
2 Clawed Fiends
4 Razor Wings

- 1500 Ultramarines Force -

Chaplain

Ironclad Dreadnought W/ Heavy Flamer
Drop Pod

5 Assault Terminators W/ 5x Thunder Hammers and Shields
Land Raider

10 Tactical Squad W/ Flamer, Missile Launcher
Rhino

10 Tactical Squad W/ Flamer, Missile Launcher
Rhino

5 Scouts W/ Telion

5 Vanguard Veterans /w Lightning Claw, 4x Power Weapons, Jump Packs

- Why I Took My (Dark Eldar) List -

I wanted to start an idea behind a traveling circus that the Dark Eldar use as a cover to steal the souls of children. There is a menagerie of creatures, side show freaks and attractions used to entice local towns to attend. During these shows the Dark Eldar slowly drain the patrons of their souls, leaving only empty husks to feed the various circus creatures. These circus acts also serve another, more practical purpose; to assess the defensive capabilities of a location for future raids.

I took all the freaks in the list and decided to parade them around the Battlefield. I am going to replay this list, but instead of Kabalite Warriors, I am going to include Wracks. Yeah, my anti-mech will be much weaker, but that is okay.

Enjoy the freak show!

- Pre Deployment Plan -

Charge, charge, charge!!! I really have no plan, as I have never used, basically, an entire Beast based army before.

- Mission and Deployment -

- Capture and Control. Dawn of War.

- Ultramarine won the Deployment Roll, and chose to go first.

- Both Objectives were placed out. Neither player deploys any units.

- Ultramarine infiltrates Scouts.

- Dark Eldar attempts to Steal the Initiative, but fails.

- Post Deployment Plan -

With only two objectives to take, and no Raiders, I was in for a tough time. Basic plan was to rush his objective, hold mine and see what these Dark Eldar units can do.

- Ultramarine Turn 1 -

Ironclad Drops next to the Dark Eldar's Objective.

I now mark Transports with a model on it so you can tell if there is a unt inside. Of course, I forgot to do this with the Landraider, lol. There is a Terminator Assault Squad with Chaplain riding in that thing.

Jump Pack Vanguard unit flies onto the Battlefield. All wielding power weapons. Very dangerous.

One Rhino stays behind to hold an Objective.

I think the Ultramarine forgot to move the Scouts, or maybe he didn't want to. I forget.

- Dark Eldar Turn 1 -

I'll be honest. I have no friggin clue what I am doing with these units. Running 'Nob' type squads is a new thing for me. So bare with me as I mull around the Battlefield figuring out what to do!

Each unit is marked with a single Pain Token.

The Kabalite squads move in behind my forces. I hope to be able to destroy that Ironclad before it can do any damage. One Kabalite fires his Blaster at the Dread, but misses.

Everything else moves onto the Battlefield and Runs forward. Beastmaster Squad on the left, followed by the Archon and his Court in the difficult terrain, and another Beastmaster squad to the right.

- Ultramarine Turn 2 -

Marine units drive around the Battlefield. Hoping to intercept me on my way to his Objective.

Missile launcher from a Rhino fires at my Kabalite Warriors, but scatters onto my Court, wounding a Clawed Fiend. He now has +1 Attack!

Ironclad douses a unit of Warriors with a Heavy Flamer, baking 6 of them. They do not break, and the Ironclad Assaults. The Ironclad does no wounds, and combat draws.

- Dark Eldar Turn 2 -

Not much going on here... My units move forward and Run to cover extra ground. Kabaliite Warriors spread out a bit to weaken incoming Missile fire from the Rhino.

My Archon and his Court are my bait units. I want the Ultramarine player to assault them, so I can counter Assault with my Beastmaster units and gain extra ground due to consolidation. Will he take the bait?

Close combat with Ironclad results in no casualties. Combat is a draw... again....

- Ultramarine Turn 3 -

Ultramarine units move around. Units on the left are going to defend his Objective, while units on the right are moving to take my Objective.

Landraider crashes through the ruins, and out comes a party!!!

Another Missile from the rearmost Rhino kills two more Kabalite Warriors.

The Assault Terminators, and Chaplain, disembark in such a way so that they have nearly exactly 6" to assault. This is to reduce the amount of reacting models I can have to fight against his units. Result? He destroys the Beastmaster unit as the Dark Eldar player only had a handful of non power weapon attacks back. The Beastmaster unit actually falls back, but since they have no ranged weaponry, we decide to just remove them from play since they won't be able to regroup during my next turn due to being within 6" of the Terminators.

Combat with Ironclad? What do you think? The stupid thing wiffs again, and deals no casualties. Ultramarine player is pissed, but he doesn't realize that the LONGER the Ironclad stays in combat, the LESS time I have to shoot at it to blow it up before the game ends. I am the one who is secretly pissed :(

- Dark Eldar Turn 3 -

This combat with the Ironclad is getting to be retarded. This one, stupid Imperial Robot is completely ruining my plans, as I can't even get close to my objective. Last thing I need is for the Ironclad to win combat on MY turn, and destroy another Troop choice. I can't move my Troops around the north of the terrain, as all that is going to do is introduce 24 Power Weapon attacks from the Vanguard Vet squad.

As long as my Archon and his Court are alive, my opponent cannot get close to my Troops with his Terminators and Vanguard Squad. So we are both keeping distance from each other.

Archon and Court move closer to the Terminators while Beastmaster Squad moves north towards the enemy.

3 Kabalite Warrior Squads open fire on the Terminators. The amount of Poison shots the unit suffers, and three Blaster shots, manages to kill 3 Terminators. They hold.

My Archon and Court are within 'Normal' Assault range, which is good as the Haemonculi along for the ride prevents them from 'Fleeting'. This time, only a single model makes it into combat with the last Terminator and Chaplain, and it is my Archon. Archon destroys the Chaplain, the Terminator cannot get through the Shadowfield, and the Terminator fails his Leadership test. He falls back.

For killing the Chaplain, the Arhon's unit gains a Pain Token.

Ironclad combat? YES, yet another combat where the Ironclad either misses everything or wounds on 1. Can you believe this garbage? The Emperor fraggin protects for sure!!!

- Ultramarine Turn 4 -

Assault Terminator continues to fall back, due to being within 6" of a Dark Eldar unit.

Vanguard Vets fly 12" and Run 6", trying to make it to the Objective.

Telion and his cronies keep slithering behind my lines....

The Landraider moves into 'Blocking' position, so that my job getting to my Objective becomes ten times harder. Landraider fires it's Heavy Bolters, killing a lone Warrior.

Another Missile from the Missile Factory up in the corner wounds my Beastmaster unit... I put the wound on my Clawed Fiend. It now has +2 Attacks!

Praise be Vect!!! The Ironclad FINALLY kills the Kabalite Warriors on the Ultramarine's turn! It then Consolidates a massive 1". Ultramarine player face palms.

- Dark Eldar Turn 4 -

Heamonculi split from their units so that the units can use their Fleet and Beast rules. Pain Tokens are split up accordingly.

Kabalite Warriors move into firing positions. The first Blaster fired Wrecks the Ironclad! The second Blaster shot destroys the weapon from the Drop Pod.

Beastmaster unit in the top left race across the Battlefield. Move 6", Run 6", Assault 12". The 5 million attacks Wreck the Rhino. Strength 5 hits and Rending are pretty nice!

Archon and his Court barely make it into combat. I didn't show it in this picture well enough, but I actually managed to stick a single model in Difficult Terrain somehow without noticing it. I roll double 1's to get out of Terrain, so the model is still stuck in terrain. I then roll a 6 to assault, and the unit barely makes it into combat with the Vanguard Vets.

Vanguard Vets lay into the Court with a metric ton of power weapon attacks. Wounds are spread all over the place, and I manage to only lose a single model. Two Vanguard Vets actually die from my measly 4 attacks from what I had available to attack. Archon and his Court lose combat, but hold.

- Ultramarine Turn 5 -

The lone Terminator - we'll call him "Bronson" - regroups and heads towards the Court of the Archon. I guess he must have a Death Wish... or two... or three... or four... OR FIVE!??!? How many of these damned movies exist?!?!?!

Lazy ass Scouts push a half asleep Telion into the Landraider. The giant pile of metal drives next to the Objective, and fires on some Kabalite Warriors with it's Heavy Bolter. 2 die, but the unit holds.

Heamonculi wander around aimlessly, like two blind old guys looking for their medicine.

Archon and his Court dispatch the Vanguard Vets, and gain another Pain Token. They Consolidate 6" into the Difficult Terrain.

In the top left, the last Rhino drives into terrain, and 10 Tactical Marines jump out. Mass bolter fire from both Marine units pour into the Beastmaster unit. A ton of crap dies, including 4 out of the 5 Beastmasters. The lone Beastmaster barely makes his Leadership Test and the unit holds.

- Dark Eldar Turn 5 -

Archon and his Court move to within 3" of the Objective.

Kabalite Warriors Immobilize the Landraider.

In the top left, the Beastmaster corrals his monsters into combat. 3 Marines die, and so does a Kymerae. The Ultramarines hold.

Ultramarine player rolls to end the game, and it does end!

- Battle Report Conclusion -

Dark Eldar - 0 Objectives

Ultramarines - 0 Objectives

Game is a Tie!!

- Post Game Opinions -

My gosh, this was a heck of a fun list to run!

Court of the Archon. What an interesting unit. I did not really get to use this unit to its full potential as just about every single close combat with these guys only ever resulted in using 2 or 3 models! I need to mess with these guys some more to get an accurate opinion on them.

Beastmaster. Much, much, much better than in the previous Codex. The three beasts available are just awesome. I really love this unit. It is SO much fun to use!

Kymerae. 4++ save it pretty awesome. Great for soaking up Thunder Hammer hits!

Clawed Fiends. The ability to get MORE attacks as they get hurt is pretty awesome! IU was actually getting mad when I would make my Feel No Pain rolls for them. By the time I got them into combat, they had soaked up a bunch of wounds, and were striking with a bunch of Strength 5 Attacks.

Razor Wings. I must say.... What the hell is up with this unit? Who thought of this craziness? Giant, fat flying birds with a ton of Wounds and Attacks? It is such a weird unit. I do love the amount of Rending attacks they get. Pretty awesome!

Overall, the Beastmaster unit is like an Ork Nob squad, in that you can totally mess with the wound allocation to keep the unit alive.

I will be playing this list again, but with Wracks instead of Kabalite Warriors, and maybe even a few Grotesques as well. We'll see! :)

Oh, do not bring up Harlequins please. I will not be using them in my army lists, ever. Bloodbrides make them obsolete, and I am here to play Dark Eldar, not Eldar Codex left overs. I have a small force of Harlie models, so yeah I like them just fine, just not in my Dark Eldar codex. I'll stick to their various .pdf rules thank you very much.

Thanks for watching! Tune in next time for a small Wych Cult versus Space Wolf skirmish!

Dark Eldar versus Ultramarines - Game 4 of 45

Finally, you guys asked for it, and here it is, a match between my Dark Eldar and a Marine opponent. My opponent is my good friend Brian, and he is a very competent Marine player.

-Game Notes -

1) I use Vassal to represent games I have played at my local gaming store.

2) I use Vassal as an abstract tool to represent the battle. I use no measurements in Vassal, so one turn a unit may move 6", but only move 3" next turn, but in reality the unit moved 12" total in the 'real life' game. Just remember, this is abstract, so do not get caught up in the visuals, and just enjoy the match!

3) When a Vehicle is damaged, the number of 'explosions' on the vehicle indicates the roll on the Damage Chart. If you see 4 little explosions, that means either it was a straight 4 on the Damage Chart, or maybe a 3, but with a +1 for Open Topped or Melta.

4) As the Dark Eldar player, I cannot answer questions pertaining to what my opponent was thinking when doing certain actions. I will try my best to remember what my opponent verbally tells me, but other than that, I really do not know why my opponent does what he does.

- 1500 Point Heamonculi Coven -

Ancient Heamonculi w/ Venom Blade
Ancient Heamonculi w/ Venom Blade

Heamonculi w/ Venom Blade, Liquefier Gun
Heamonculi w/ Venom Blade, Liquefier Gun
Heamonculi w/ Venom Blade, Liquefier Gun

10 Grotesques w/ Liquefier Gun
Aberration w/ Flesh Gauntlet

9 Wracks w/ 1x Liquefier Guns
Raider w/ Flickerfield, Torment Grenade Launcher

9 Wracks w/ 1x Liquefier Guns
Raider w/ Flickerfield, Torment Grenade Launcher

9 Wracks w/ 1x Liquefier Guns
Raider w/ Flickerfield, Torment Grenade Launcher

Cronos Parasite Engine /w Spirit Bomb

Cronos Parasite Engine /w Spirit Bomb

- 1500 Point Ultramarines Force -

Company Commander w/ 2x Lightning Claws
5x Command Squad w/ Power Weapon, 2x Lightning Claws (on a single model), Apothecary
Rhino

Ironclad Dreadnought w/ Drop Pod

10 Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher, Flamer
Rhino

10 Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher, Flamer
Rhino

10 Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher, Melta Gun

Land Speeder w/ Multi Melta

5 Scouts
Land Speeder Storm w/ Heavy Flamer

5 Devastators w/ 2x Missile Launchers, 2x Lascannon

5 Devastators w/ 4x Missile Launchers

- Why I Took My (Dark Eldar) List -

This list is a modified, fixed version, of the list I took in game 3 against the Orks. Nothing really too different, except for the weapons I gave some of my models.

- Mission and Deployment -

- Search and Destroy. Pitched Battle. Objectives were placed out around the Battlefield. As always, I put my Objectives out in the open, right where I want my opponent to be late game.

- Dark Eldar won the Deployment Roll, and chose to go first.

- Dark Eldar deploys entire force. Grotesques with 2 Ancient Heamonculi in the front. Two Cronos Parasite Engines behind them. Three Raiders with 9 Wracks and a Heamonculus each.

- Ultramarine deploys force. Landspeeder Storm in top right with Scouts. Landspeeder with Multi Melta in middle top left. Combat Squad Marines in top left into two units. Devastator Squads in top middle hill and top right ruins. Three Rhinos near ruins. HQ and Tactical Squad in rear Rhinos and Tactical Squad in the front Rhino.

Ultramarine attempts to steal the initiative, and fails. Dark Eldar takes first turn.

- The Plan -

Dark Eldar - Send one unit of Wracks to the top left to mess with the Devastator Squad on the Hill. Send rest of army to hold the three objectives in the right side of the Battlefield. The first order of business was to take down his Devastator Squads.

Ultramarine - Spread out, force Dark Eldar to split his forces. Use Drop Pod to bring in Ironclad to tie up the Grotesques. Counter assault with HQ and Tactical Squads.

- Dark Eldar Turn 1 -

Grotesques and Ancients move forward. Cronos Move forward. Raiders go Flat Out into assault positions for next turn.

- Ultramarine Turn 1 -

Drop Pod enters the Battlefield... and scatters directly in front of the Devastator Squad in the ruins, blocking their Line of Sight to most of the Battlefield! Ironclad Dreadnought shambles out of the Drop Pod, ready for battle.

Units shuffle around the board into various positions. Tactical Squad in the upper left starts to move to take Objectives later on. Rhinos move into assault positions for next turn. Two Rhinos pop Smoke.

The Ironclad's weaponry spring into life after decades of non-use.... and fails to hit the Raider directly in front of it! Even it's Heavy Flamer fails to do any damage.

The Devastator Squad in the ruins, with half of it's members blocked by the Drop Pod, fire two Missiles into a Raider next to them... A Glancing shot Shakes the Raider.

Land Speeder Storm's heavy Flamer fails to catch on the Raider due to the Raider's Flickerfield.

The other Land Speeder opens fire with it's molten hot Multi Melta on a nearby Raider... and Penetrates, but a roll of a 1 only becomes a 3, blowing the Raider's Dark Lance off.

Tactical Squad fires a Missile at the Raider missing it's Dark Lance... A Penetrating shot Stuns the Raider.

Devastator Squad on the hill attempts to fire its massive payload onto a Cronos Parasite Engine... 2 Wounds scored, but, both wounds avoided by Cover Saves given by the Grotesque!

- Dark Eldar Turn 2 -

The one mobile Raider skims over the Ruins in the top right, and opens fire on the Rhino in the rear which did not pop Smoke... A Penetrating shot Destroys the Rhino, sending 10 Tactical Marines to the ground. The Marines are not Pinned, nor do they take any casualties.

Wrack,s with their Heamonculi masters, leap out of the the other two Raiders.

The Wracks in the upper right pour double Liquefier acids on the Devastators, malting one into the ground. The Wracks in the upper left do the same to the 5 man Tactical Squad, but fails to wound any of them. The Wracks near the 10 Tactical Marines pour Liquefier toxins upon the Marines, melting 6 of them into the crater where the Rhino once stood. The 4 remaining Marines stand their ground.

All three Wrack Squads charge. One Wrack Squad double charges the Devastators and Land Speeder Storm. Another Wrack Squad Charges the 4 remaining Marines in the Rhino crater. The last Wrack Squad double charges the 5 Tactical Marines and the 5 Devastators on the hill.

The Wracks win all combats, all thanks to the Tormentor Grenade Launchers on the nearby raiders which impose a -1 LD to all enemy units within 6".

In the upper left, the Devastators hold, but the 3 Tactical Marines remaining break from combat and flee.

The Devastators in the upper right break as well, and flee for their lives. The Land Speeder Storm is Immobilized by the Furious Charges of the Wracks. The Wracks consolidate around the Land Speeder so it's 5 Scouts cannot Disembark from the Speeder.

The Wracks in the middle finish off the 4 Marines, and gain a Pain Token.

As for the 2 Cronos Parasite Engines and 10 Grotesques? They charge both Rhinos in the front, and fail to do anything to either one. Sometimes, 42 strength 6 attacks just can't hurt Armor Value 10, and neither can 6 monstrous creature attacks!

- Ultramarine Turn 2 -

5 Tactical Marines on the left move towards an Objective. One Rhino pivots so it is not in CC with the Cronos anymore. The other Rhino, still filled with 10 Tactical Marines, Tank Shocks past the Grotesques.

The Company Commander and his Command Squad leap out of the Rhino and sees the Wracks in front of them. They fire their pistols, Plasma Guns and Flamer, but fail to do any damage to the monsters.

Land Speeder fires it's Multi Melta... A Glancing shot that Stuns the Raider.

The Ironclad brings its weapon online again, and wounds a Grotesque with a Melta shot.

Unable to move, the Land Speeder Storm douses the immediate area with searing hot flame, but failing to do any damage to the Wracks, which shrug off the pain like it was child's play.

The Command Squad charges the Wracks, and kills 6 of the monsters. The Wracks manage to kill a single Marine. Being Fearless, the Wracks lose two more of their number, and hold.

The Ironclad charges into the Grotesques... The Ultramarine player smiles as he has just locked a 500+ unit in CC for the rest of the game, ensuring his Command Squad and 10 Tactical Marine Squad will be safe from the Grotesques bulging muscles of death. The Ironclad kills two Grotesques, and the Grotesques hold.

The Wracks in the upper left finish off the Devastators, and move closer to the Land Speeder near them after combat. +1 Pain Token.

- Dark Eldar Turn 3 -

Both Raider on the right of the Battlefield move in better firing positions for the Rhinos. They both fire their Dark Lances... a Penetrating shot Stuns the Rhino.

The Wracks surrounding the Immobilized Speeder fan out at the order by their Heamonculus master.

The Wracks in the upper left move closer to the Land Speeder. They open fire on the Speeder with their Liquefier Guns... a Glancing shot Shakes the Land Speeder.

The Wracks near the Immobilized Speeder also fire their Liquefier Guns, but to no avail. They then charge the Speeder. Unable to move, the Speeder is brought down, and it's crew of 5 Scouts are torn to shreds by the Wrack's Poisoned Weaponry and spouts of Liquefier Gun acids.

Both Cronos charge the Command Squad. A fierce battle ensures, but multiple Lightning Claws and Power Weapons not only bring down the remaining Wracks and Heamonculus, but put a couple of wounds on a Cronos.

For whatever reason, the Wracks in the upper left forget to assault the Land Speeder!

The Ironclad kills two more Grotesques, and subsequently, kills a third after combat. The Grotesques hold due to their Fearlessness.

- Ultramarine Turn 3 -

Not much goes on here. 5 Tactical Marines on the left move and attempt to flame the Wracks, but do no damage thanks to Feel No Pain.

Land Speeder moves a bit, but cannot fire this turn.

One empty Rhino starts to drive to the left of the Battlefield in hopes of contesting objectives on turn 5.

Ironclad Kills more Grotesques, and of course they hold due to being Fearless.

The Company Commander kills a Cronos, and the Cronos kill a Marine, but it takes a wound in turn by a Lightning Claw Marine.

- Dark Eldar Turn 4 -

Wracks on the left of the Battlefield move closer to the 5 tactical Marines, and glues them all to the grass with their 2 Liquefier Guns.

The Wracks on the right Embark onto a Raider.

The Raider on the left, without the ability to fire due to a lost Dark Lance, zips across the battlefield.

Both Raiders fire on the remaining two Rhinos. The Rhino holding the 10 Tactical Marines is Shaken while the other empty Rhino blows up in a fiery Wreck.

The Ironclad finishes off the last Grotesques, and after combat cuts down both Ancient Heamonculi. Sometimes being Fearless is not what it is cracked up to be!

The last Cronos and a Marine armed with Lightning Claws kill each other in a final embrace of death. The Company Commander now starts to make a B line to the left of the Battlefield.

- Ultramarine Turn 4 -

The Company Commander run across the Battlefield.

The Land Speeder moves back near an Objective, and fires on the lanceless Raider, but it's Flickerfield saves it from harm.

The Ironclad moves towards an Objective as well, and fires its Multi Melta on a Raider filled with Wracks, but it's Flickerfield saves it from a Penetrating shot as well.

Last, the Rhino filled with 10 Tactical Marines moves on an Objective, claiming it their own.

- Dark Eldar Turn 5 -

The lanceless Raider moves in front of an Objective to block it, while the Raider with Wracks in it flies across the Battlefield to the opposite side of the Objective, holding it.

The other empty Raider moves to contest the Objective held by the Rhino's Tactical Marines.

The Wracks move towards the Land Speeder.

A Dark Lance shot Stuns the Rhino on the Objective.

Wracks charge the Land Speeder, and turn it into a pile of scrap under the weight of their poisoned blades.

- Ultramarine Turn 5 -

The Company Commander runs across the Battlefield...

The Ironclad fires upon the lanceless raider with it's Melta Gun, but the Raider's 4+ Cover Save keeps it alive.

10 Tactical Marines exit their Stunned Rhino, and pour Bolter Fire and Melta Gun shots into the Raider. Only the Melta Gun has an effect on the Raider... but the Raider's Flickerfield harmlessly bounces the Melta shot into the air.

The Ironclad charges the Raider, but misses with all it's attacks. Needing 6's to hit is hard to do sometimes.

The Dark Eldar player rolls to see if the game ends... and the game ends.

- Conclusion -

Dark Eldar - 2 Objectives

Ultramarines - 0 Objectives

Victor - Dark Eldar

- Conclusion -

This is my reworked Heamonculi list, and I think it works pretty damned well. I do not think I need Ancient Heamonculi in this list, and I will be downgrading them to Heamonculi in later games.

My opponent played well. We both did not expect the Wracks to do as well as they did.

- Unit and Item Opinions -

Liquefier Guns. Once again, these monsters just melted their targets into the ground shot after shot. Remember, when you fire a Liquefier Gun, 50% of the time it will ignore the armor of a MEQ model, so when you have two of them, or even three if you are able to do that, MEQ just dies... A lot. I loved these in the old Dark Eldar book, and I love them in the new one. Best Flamers in the game. Thank goodness they can be taken outside Heamonculi now.

MEQ players, for the first time in a long time, now will the same fear of flamers as other armies. More so actually, since MEQ armies come in smaller numbers, the Liquefier Gun can cover a 10 man unit and kill half of it quite easily. Oh yeah, Liquefier Guns can take care of 2+ Save models as well.

All hail the unsung, under the radar, unseen and over looked "Power" of the new Dark Eldar codex; anti-MEQ flamers on 10 point models.

Grotesques. Yet another game where I was not able to see their full potential. Getting tied up by any walker with an armor of 12 really does put a damper on things. The fear this unit gave my opponent was worth it, though. He made sure not to assault me out of his Rhinos until this unit was dealt with in some fashion.

Now that I think about it, last game against the Orks, the Grotesques did a wonderful job. If it weren't for the wound allocation rules, the Nobs would have been dead. Don't get me wrong, I like wound allocation. I am just saying that Grotesques are what Ogryns wish to be; useful and deadly.

Wracks. Unlike my last game against the Orks, this time I remembered to give my Wracks +1 Attack and reroll to wounds on the charge. The results speak for themselves. Wracks are just nasty. Spouting out Liquefier juice before assaulting is king. These guys are the Flamer Assault unit other armies wish to have. Also, when I had 26 attacks on the charge, with wound rerolls, MEQ just fell by the wayside.

I am tempted to make a full army of these bastards. 6 Troop slots filled with these guys. They are cheap as well! My Wrack units, with raiders and upgrades, came up to only 170 points. You can squeeze 6 of these units in a 1500 point list, and still have room left over for Ravagers if you wanted to do it...

That gives me an idea for an up and coming army list... -wink-

Heamonculi. Just give them Venom Blades, and let them go to town. Sure they die fast in close combat, but who cares! They gave their Pain Token to the Wracks/Grotesques, so let them die.

For my tastes, Ancient Heamonculi are not worth for how I use them. I know they can be powerful, but for my army list play styles, they are just a waste of points at the moment.

Raiders. I don't know what tools keep on thinking Raiders are dead to use. I don't know what crack they are smoking. Flickerfields continue to make Raiders tiny tanks flying around the Battlefield. Whatever, lol. I love Raiders, and I will continue to field them en mass in my armies.

I will give the new and improved (yeah right) Web Way portals a few games though. Maybe they'll surprise me.

Cronos Parasite Engine. Second game with them, and I am not liking them. Their Strength 5 is pretty crappy when in CC. Each game they are stuck in combat, I pine for a Talos and it's Strength 7 attacks. I am going to shelve the Cronos Parasite Engine for now. All my units start the game with 2 or 3 pain tokens, and I fail to see the point of taking these in my lists.

Coming up next... Ultramarines versus Cirque de Commorragh!

Dark Eldar versus Orks - Game 3 of 45

This game, I revisit my good old Ork opponent, Mike.

This is a 1500 point battle. So lets have at it!

As was pointed out Comrade_Nikolai and Anglacon in my comments section, my Wrack units are not built correctly. There needs to be 10 Wracks for 2 Liquefier Guns. Thank you guys again for pointing this out! I will fix this error next time I use these units. Such is the life of a tester, right?

Whoops! I also forgot that you reroll Poisoned wounds against opponents in CC under certain circumstances! I never did this once in this game, as I never used Poisoned weaponry before in CC. I guess I forgot rules all around, huh? ha!

- Heamonculi Coven -

Ancient Heamonculi w/Hex Rifle
Ancient Heamonculi w/Hex Rifle

Heamonculi w/ Archangel of Pain, Liquefier Gun
Heamonculi w/ Venom Blade, Liquefier Gun
Heamonculi w/ Venom Blade, Liquefier Gun

10 Grotesques w/ Liquefier Gun
Aberration

9 Wracks w/ 2x Liquefier Guns
Raider w/ Flickerfield, Torment Grenade Launcher

9 Wracks w/ 2x Liquefier Guns
Raider w/ Flickerfield, Torment Grenade Launcher

9 Wracks w/ 2x Liquefier Guns
Raider w/ Flickerfield, Torment Grenade Launcher

Cronos Parasite Engine /w Spirit Bomb

Cronos Parasite Engine /w Spirit Bomb

- Ork Horde -

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka

Big Mek

10 Nobs w/ 3 Power Klaws, 3 Big Choppas
Mad Dok
Trukk w/ Red Paint

20 Boyz w/ 'Eavy Armor, Slugga and Choppa
Nob w/ Power Klaw

3 Deff Koptas w/ 3 Buzzsaws and 3 Rokkits

5 Storm Boyz
Nob w/ Power Klaw

3 Killa Kanz w/ 3 Grotzookas

- Why I Took My (Dark Eldar) List -

For nearly a decade I have always tried to make Heamonculi lists with no real avail, since all that was available for Heamonculi as Troops were (Kabalite) Warriors. Now, with their own troop type, the Wracks, I can finally make a list based around the supreme torturers of the Galaxy, the Heamonculi!

I really didn't put too much tactical/power thought to my list. I just wanted to make it as themed for Heamonculi as possible. I was going to toy with Uriel, but I wanted to geek out with tons of Heamonculi over a single Heamonculous.

- Mission and Deployment -

- Capture and Control, Dawn of War. Ork won the Deployment Roll, and chose to go first.

- Ork places 3 Koptas in Reserves to Outflank and 5 Storm Boyz in Reserve to Deep Strike.

- Ork Deploys 20 'Ard Boyz and Big Mek in the center to hold an Objective.

- Dark Eldar places an Objective in the corner, deploys nothing. and places nothing in Reserves.

- Dark Eldar attempts to Steal The Initiative and fails. Ork goes first.

For the Dark Eldar, the plan was to completely ignore the bottom left Objective, and instead fight to death in the center of the board!

- Ork Turn 1 -

Killa Kans clamor onto the battlefield, followed by a noisy Trukk filled with Nobs accompanied by Ghazghkull himself.

- Dark Eldar Turn 1 -

Grotesques, corralled by two Ancient Heamonculi, walk onto the battlefield. Three Raiders filled with Wracks and Heamonculi fly into striking postitions, with the far right Raider going Flat Out. Finally, two slow and ponderous Cronos Parasite Engines crawl into view of the 'Ard Boyz.

Both Cronos Engines fire their Spirit Bombs into the 'Ard Boy horde, killing 3 Orks total. Their spirits are syphoned into the storage vessels within the Cronos Engines. Both Cronos gain 1 Pain Token.

(Grotesques, in their stupidity, forget to Run! The Ancient Heamonculi are not pleased...)

- Ork Turn 2 -

The Orks, for some reason, forgot their Reserves!!

Killa Kans and the Trukk move forward a bit.

The Big mek powers up his Super Doodad, fires on the Grotesques, and rolls a 12!! 3 Grotesques vanish into pure nothingness as Gork and Mork feast on their fat bodies.

- Dark Eldar Turn 2 -

Grotesques are forced to run into position by their Ancient Heamonculi handlers.

Cronos Parasite Engines fire into the 'Ard boyz, but fail to cause any casualties.

Three Raiders move into position, with two of them disembarking their Wracks while the third Raider gets ready to begin firing on the incoming Ork vehicles next turn.

The Heamonculi feed drugs into their subjects, and force the Wracks off of two of the Raiders. The Wracks immediately begin t douse the ruins with acids and toxins, while one of the Haemonculi joins in the fun with his own Liquefier Gun. 13 Orks melt into the plasticrete ruins, causing the remaining Orks to route and run, taking their Big Mek with them!

- Ork Turn 3 -

Ork Koptas and Storm boyz join the fight!

The Killa Kans move onward while the Nob's Trukk drives past them at full speed.

The 3 Koptas fire their Rokkits at the Raider next ot them, and 3 rokkits make their mark! Two Rokkits, though, vanish into dust as the Raider's Flickerfield leaps into the air. One Rokkit does manage to blow off the Dark Lance from the Raider.

The Storm Boyz fire wildly into the air, attempting to hit their own Raider target, but miss with every single shot. At least they made a lot of noise!

The Nobs and Ghazghkull jump out of the trukk, and Ghazghkull lets out a mighty WAAAGH!!
The Nobs and Ghazghkull run towards the Grotesques with a blind, rage fueled fury!!!

And they are short... An inch....

- Dark Eldar Turn 3 -

Wracks scramble to deal with the immediate threats to their flanks. Wracks jump back onto a Raider as more run across the battlefield to meet their opponents.

Raider quickly turn around to defend the flanks of the Dark Eldar force with thier Wrack passengers ready to fire.

Two Raiders filled with Wracks let loose their Liquefier Guns into the Deff Koptas, turning both pilot and machine into an indistinguishable pile of organs and metal.

Wracks on foot, along side their Heamonculous master, release their Liquefier Gun's acids into the Storm Boyz, fusing flesh and fuel into an explosive conclusion, killing all the Storm Boyz instantly.

One Cronos Parasite Engine misses it's target, and the rebound bounces back onto the Grotesques, wounding one of them in the process!

The Ancient Haemonculi pump thier Grotesques with drugs, and force them into close combat with the Nobs and Ghazghkull!

The combat is bloody. The Grotesques are able to kill one power klaw wielding nob, and wound 6 others, but the mighty Warboss himself brings three Grotesques down with mighty blow after blow. The Grotesques hold combat under the baleful eyes of their Ancient Heamonculi masters.

- Ork Turn 4 -

Killa Kans move further into the heart of the battle.

The Ork Trukk driver decides to take a break and read a Pentork Magazine.

In combat, the Grotesques and Ancient Heamonculi manage to another Power Klaw Ork and an Ork with a Big Choppa. Ghazghkull and his fellow Nobs destroy all the remaining opposition escept for a single Ancient Heamonculous, which is too arogant to know when to fall back, and stays in combat...

- Dark Eldar Turn 4 -

The last Wrack unit on foot embarks into a Raider, and the Raider begins to make a dash to the Objective in the bottom left of the battlefield.

The other two Raiders move into firing position, and blow the wheels off the Trukk, Immobilizing it.

The two Cronos Parasite Engines join the lone Ancient Heamonculous in combat. One more Nob falls to the Cronos' claws. The Ancient Heamonculous dies to Ghazghkull, who has had enough of this foolishness. One of the Cronos Engines takes two wounds into itself from a Power Klaw Nob.

- Ork Turn 5 -

The Big Mek and 'Ard Boyz run into the sunset as they flee off the battlefield.

The Killa Kans finally make it into combat with the two Cronos Parasite Engines.

Both Cronos get destroyed, but not before they put more wounds out into the Nob squad, and kill a Nob. The Nobs and Ghazghkull consolidate into the ruins while the Kans move out.

- Dark Eldar Turn 5 -

One Raider makes it to the Objective in the bottom left corner, and holds it with Wracks aboard.

The two other Raiders move into the Ruins, and spout out 6 Liquefier Gun sprays into the Nob unit, yet only managing to kill the Pain Boy....

Ork Rolls for game end, and the game continues....

- Ork Turn 6 -

Killa Kans move into difficult terrain, fires their Grotzookas at the Raider, but fail to do anything to it.

The Nobs and Ghazghkull charge one of the Raiders in the Ruin, and manage to blow it up. The Wracks shrug off the pain of the explosion with their Feel No Pain.

- Dark Eldar Turn 6 -

The Raider, taking fire from the Killa Kanz, returns Dark Lance fire, blowing one of the walking garbage cans into oblivion.

The Wracks and their Heamonculous spout Liquefier Gun acid all over the Nobs, killing 1 Nob outright. The Wracks and their Heamonculous master in the Raider nearby do the same, and manages to kill one more Nob. Ghazghkull and his two Nobs hold.

The Wracks on foot charge into the last three Orks in the ruins. With their Furious Charge, they kill both Nobs, receiving their third and last Pain Token (the second one was from the Deff Koptas) before Ghazghkull can strike back. Ghazghkull in turn kills 4 Wracks, but now Fearless, the Wracks stand their ground, defiant, to the Ork Warlord of all Warlords!

With Ghazghkull 4" away from the Objective, the Dark Eldar rolls to see if the game ends, and it continues!

- Ork Turn 7 -

The Killa Kanz fire another Grotzooka volley into the Raider, Wrecking it, and sending it's Wrack passengers all over the Objective.

The Wracks manage to wound Ghazghkull twice before having 3 of their own fall to the Ork monster. Once again, the Fearless Wracks hold, shrugging off any further pain.

- Dark Eldar Turn 7 -

Wracks, lead by their Heamonculous master, leap out from a Raider in the ruins, and charge into the lone Warboss....

Ghazghkull falls to the poisons, acids and toxins of the Wracks and Heamonculi....

- Conclusion -

Dark Eldar - 2 Objectives

Orks - 0 Objectives

Victore - Dark Eldar

- Post Game Thoughts -

This is my basic Heamonculi Coven list. I will be working on this list a lot for my future games!

- Unit and Item Opinions -

Liquefier Guns. I won't spoil my other match with this list, but as you can see, these new 'flamers' are powerful. The Liquefier Gun used to be called a Destructor in the 'old' Dark Eldar codex, but only the Heamonculi could wield them. Now that units can wield them in battle, Dark Eldar are now able, for the first time ever, field mass flamers for anti-infantry. Here is the kicker...

Liquefier Guns can kill MEQ and Terminators, unlike any other flamer in the game. Like I said, I won't spoil my match against the Marines, but suffice it to say, you'll see how powerful this Dark Eldar flamer is against MEQ.

Grotesques. I love these guys. It is nice to have something that can only be instant killed by a strength 10 weapon. On paper they look meh, but in practice, my opponents always go "holy crap" and give them a wide berth, or send their strongest CC units after them to kill them. I know people online do not like these guys, but I find them fluff and powerful. Heck, you can arm their leader, the Aberration, with some nasty power weapons. I have not done this yet, but I will in the future.

With Uriel and Furious Charge, these buggers have Strength 7 on the charge. This might prove to be quite nasty as a Tank Killer!

Wracks. I love 'em. They are really nothing special, except for the fact they can carry two Liquefier Guns into combat. Stick a Heamonculous with them, and the entire unit gets Furious Charge at the start of the game! That is pretty nice :)

Cronos Parasite Engine. In this list, I found they are not needed. I start the game with so many pain tokens, that the Cronos is actually a complete waste here. All my units start the game with 2 or 3 Pain Tokens,so the Cronos is just not worth it here. Next time I run this list, I am going to shove two Taloi in here instead.

Please leave me comments, feedback, etc.... I appreciate your participation!

"Old" Battle Report Update and new Widget...

I got an updated army list for the Tau Empire in my Battle Report located here.

Thank you for the updated list Mjolnirmahkie!

I have also added a little widget to the main page that shows up and coming battle reports that are awaiting the Vassal treatment. Now you know what will be coming up without me posting new posts about it.

Five games coming soon..

I have the current games waiting to be translated into battle reports....

1500 versus Ultra Marines
1500 versus Ultra Marines
1500 versus Orks
1000 versus Space Wolves
2500 versus Tyranids

Be patient... They'll be updated soon enough!

Dark Eldar Versus Tau - Game 2 of 45

My second game versus my good friend Mark and his Tau.

Just a few things I need to point out before going on. I do not include everything that happens in my battle reports. So think of my battle reports as a guideline. For instance, you may wonder why a unit does not fire in a turn or two. Either the firing did nothing of importance, i.e. it missed, or I simply forgot to jot down what happened.

If anyone has a question as to why something did or did not happen, please feel free to leave a question or five in your comment. Either I, or my opponent, will answer it for you, if either of us can remember the actual reason behind our actions :)

Also, I am going to try something different. I am going to refer to the players as their Race. People may not know who "I" am when I refer to Dark Eldar. The language might come off odd sounding, and if it bothers people, or helps out, please leave me feedback. I want to make my reports as clear as possible for you all.

1500 Point Battle (I left this out last time. Thank you all for your input!)

- Kabal of the Budding Lotus -

Archon w/ Huskblade, Drug Dispenser, Shadowfield, Soul Trap, Ghostplate Armor

5 Incubi
1 Klavex w/ Demiklaives
Raider w/ Aether Sails, Torment Launchers, Ram

19 Kabalite Warriors w/ 2 Splinter Cannons
1 Syberite

19 Kabalite Warriors w/ 2 Splinter Cannons
1 Syberite

5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster
Raider w/ Ram

5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster
Raider w/ Ram

5 Kabalite Warriors w/ Blaster
Raider w/ Ram

Ravager w/ Night Shield, Flicker Field

Ravager w/ Night Shield, Flicker Field

Ravager w/ Night Shield, Flicker Field

- Tau Force -

HQ Suit (Shas'el) w/ Twin Linked Fusion Blaster, Plasma Rifle, Multitracker, Stim Injector
Bodyguard Suit (Shas'vre) w/Plasma Rifle, Fusion Blaster, Multitracker, Target Array

Crisis Suit w/ Twin Linked Missile Pod, Blacksun Filter, Target Lock
Crisis Suit w/ Twin Linked Missile Pod, Target Array

Crisis Suit w/ Twin Linked Missile Pod, Blacksun Filter, Target Lock
Crisis Suit w/ Twin Linked Missile Pod, Target Array

Crisis Sui (Shas'vi) w/ Twin Linked Fusion Blaster, Target Array
Crisis Sui (Shas'vi) w/ Twin Linked Fusion Blaster

10 Fire Warriors
Shas'vi
Devil Fish, Seeker Missile, Disruption Pod

10 Fire Warriors
Shas'vi
Devil Fish, Seeker Missile, Disruption Pod

10 Fire Warriors
Shas'vi

5 Pathfinders
Shas'vi
Devil Fish, Seeker Missile, Disruption pod

Hammerhead w/ Railgun, Burst Cannons, Blacksun Filter, Multi Tracker, Seeker Missile, Disruption Pod

Hammerhead w/ Ion Cannon, Burst Cannons, Blacksun Filter, Multi Tracker, Seeker Missile, Disruption Pod

- Why I Took My (Dark Eldar) List -

For my games, I will be playing repeat lists against various opponents. This, of course, is so I can gather more information about units against various types of armies. Basically, I want to play a list against a Shootie army, a Close Combat army, and, ugh, MEQ armies.

My opponent has been playing Tau for about 5 years, so he has an idea of how they work.

- Mission and Deployment -

Search and Destroy and Spearhead. Dark Eldar won the Deployment Roll, and Dark Eldar is going first.

We get 3 Objective Markers. Dark Eldar get two, Tau gets one. Tau goes to place his marker in the center of the table, in the Tower, but decides against it. Dark Eldar then places last marker in the Tower anyway.

Objectives in the RL pictures look like Christmas Trees.




- Archon gains +1 Weapon Skill from his Combat Drugs.

- Dark Eldar deploys entire army onto the battlefield, readying for an alpha strike. My plan is to hold the center Objective with my Archon and Incubi, so that the Tau player will be forced to come to me eventually. By doing this, I flip the Tau's entire game plan from defensive to eventually offensive, into situations he does not want to be in.

- Tau deploys defensively, readying himself for the first turn strike.

- Tau places his two suits in his HQ unit in Reserves for Deep Striking.

- Tau attempts to steal the Initiative and fails.

Note - The centerpiece tower counts as both a ruin, on the top floor, and a building. There is a single access point. So to get to the top floor, you either have to 'fly' up there, or enter through the only door on the ground level, which is facing the Tau player.

- Dark Eldar Turn 1 -

Dark Eldar Ravagers move into Alpha Strike positioning. Their goal is to do everything in their power to destroy the Hammerhead toting that nasty Rail Gun. If I can destroy that vehicle, my game will be 100% easier...

Raiders move into 'pounce' positions. The Raider holding my Archon + Incubi heads for the centerpiece tower. If I can secure the tower, I should have the game won, since the tower itself blocks line of sight to infantry sized models. My goal is to keep my HQ up there the entire game, and on turn 5 pour out and destroy everything they can. Getting my Archon + Incubi next to the game's third objective basically won me the game unless the Tau player can pull out some miracles.

One Raider moves to the rear of my deployment zone. I know my opponent loves to Deep Strike his HQ suits behind my lines, and I need to make sure I have to provide him with too many targets to be effective.

Two Ravagers fire their Dark Lances upon the Hammerhead, and Destroy it. One Ravager fires at a suit unit and kills one suit.

Now that the Hammerhead is gone, Dark Eldar needs to focus fire on the suits. Their 'Autocannons" are too deadly to keep around for long.

- Tau Turn 1 -

Not much movement going on. I chose to not represent the movement of the Suits during the Assault phase. This would have made the pictures too confusing, especially since 99% of the time the suits just hop back into their original positions anyway. So yes, the Tau player is using the Assault move every turn with his Suits.

Tau Pathfinders tag the Raider in the Tower with 2 Markerlights.

Fire Warriors fire upon the Ravager at the north of the Battlefield. Because of the Nightshield, they are 3" out of range!

Ionhead (Hammerhead with Ion Cannon) and one Devil Fish fire on the Raider in the Tower. Cover saves made.

Two Suits fire their Missile Pods at a Ravager. 5++ Flicker Field saves the Ravager from two penetrating hits. One glancing hit makes it through. Rolls a 6 and Wrecks the Ravager.

At this point, Tau forgot to fire his Ionhead's secondary weapons. I told him it was perfectly fine to fire the tank's secondary weaponry. Stupid Strength 5 shots Destroy the center Raider due to the Markerlight's -1 to cover and +1 to BS. Thats what I get for being nice, hmph!

Archon and Incubi come flying out. They are not pinned.

- Dark Eldar Turn 2 -

One Raider flies to the top of the Tower and the 5 Warriors disembark in the tower. I position my Blaster from the unit to be able to fire out of the front of the tower in case the Tau gets too close to the tower.

Kabalite Warriors make it to the lower left building, and hunker down for the rest of the game by the Objective. I position my Splinter Cannons towards the 'front/right' of the squad.

Ravagers move into position to start taking the Tau army apart.

First order of business, Suits. Ravager fires at a lone suit, and kills it.

Splinter Cannon shards rip through and kills a 4th Fire Warrior.

Second Ravager fires on a Devil Fish. Killing the enemy mobility is key in Capture and Control. The Devil Fish blows up, and in the process kills 3 Fire Warriors as they come out.

- Tau Turn 2 -

Tau units shuffle around for better firing positions.

Unremarkable turn for Tau. Remarkable turn for Dark Eldar.

Markerlights... Pulse Rifles... Missile Pods.... and an Ion Cannon only manage to destroy Dark Lances off of two Ravagers and the center Raider.

Flicker Fields on the Ravagers save the day, as penetrating hits were ignores, while Glancing hits tore off the Dark Lances.

Bottom Ravager has one Dark Lance, and cannot fire the next turn. Top Ravager has two Dark Lances, but can neither move nor fire next turn. Raider in the center has no weapons and is also immobilized.

I must admit... It was nice to see a Tau player get frustrated by my 5++ saves for once. I am always the one who gets pissed at the Tau's 4+ Cover saves on their vehicles!

Flicker Fields have earned their keep on my Ravagers permanently.

- Dark Eldar Turn 3 -

Like wounded animals seeking shelter to lick their wounds, all my vehicles either go flat out or move to safety behind my one Stunned Ravager.

My Raiders get into position to engage the Tau forces with Kabalite warriors.

Nothing is in range of weapons that are able to fire.

- Tau Turn 3 -

HQ Suit and his Bodyguard Deep Strike and scatter into the open. Tau player uses his Pathfinder's Devil Fish ability, or something like that, and reroll the Scatter dice. Suits land 'safely' into cover.

Fire Warrior unit in cover embark into a Devil Fish, which then moves next to the centerpiece Tower. Tau player is planning on entering the tower, and Rapid Firing my Archon + Incubi Unit to death.

Two Suit units move behind a Devil Fish for cover.

Ionhead fires on the rearmost Ravager, chasing it! Flicker Field deflects a Penetrating hit.

HQ Suits fire on the Stunned Ravager, and manages to blow off a second Dark Lance. Both Ravagers now have one Dark Lance each.

- Dark Eldar Turn 4 -

Dark Eldar repositions Ravagers and one Raider (with 5 Kabalite Warriors in it) behind the Tower.

Raider drops out 5 Kabalite Warriors next to the HQ squad. I rapid fire into the HQ Squad. Tau player lets out an audible sigh. Tau player tells me he is used to opponents assaulting his suits, where his suits actually do better. I tell him I am not stupid, and I would rapid fire his suits to death and stay out in the open then get locked in combat with his suits.

Combined fire from the 5 Kabalite Warriors, and 5 Kabalite Warriors from the hill, including two Splinter Cannons, manages to kill a Suit and wound his HQ suit.

A single Blaster shot from the Kabalite Warriors on the Tower Immobilizes a Devil Fish. Tau players lets out another sigh. Immobilizing this Devil Fish basically destroyed his plans of using it as a mobile cover platform for his two Suit units. Tau player tells me I am too smart for my own good. I tell him that this is the 98th time we have played together over the past 5 years, and that eventually I'd learn his play style!

As you guys out there can see, this is the point in the game where we both begin to take 5, 10, even 15 minutes before making a single decision... We are both in deep thought, and this game just went from Checkers to Chess to Brain Surgery.

With the center objective so hotly guarded by one of the game's best CC unit, every inch counts.

Business just got serious.

- Tau Turn 4 -

It now takes the Tau player around 5 minutes before deciding to move a single unit in the movement phase. He does not like my Splinter Cannons. Also, the ignored unit of Close Combat death in the Tower by the Objective is beginning to worry him as the game comes closer to ending... With his one Devil Fish Immobilized, he also cannot use it to hold the Objective out in the open with the Fire Warrior unit waiting inside.

The Tau player knows he is in a bad spot.

Tau moves his Suits for better positioning for the later turns.

Best the Tau player can do is limit my firepower and mobility.

Markerlights, an Ion Cannon, tons of Strength 5 weaponry, and Plasma Gun shots from his HQ suit Wrecks a Ravager, Destroys a Raider and blows off the last Dark Lance from the last remaining Ravager. Kabalite Warriors jump out of the flaming Raider.

- Dark Eldar Turn 5 -

This is it. Time to counter the Tau's plans as best I can.

Dark Eldar positions the last Ravager, which cannot fire anymore this game, in such a way that the Ionhead cannot contest the Objective marker in the bottom left of the Battlefield.

Dark Eldar moves last mobile Raider out in the open to bait anything. The less that can fire at the important units, the better.

Dark Eldar decides to strike with Archon and Incubi. Archon splits from the Incubi. Archon charges the two Elite Suits while the Incubi charges the Fire warriors on the Objective marker. Both Tau units are decimated. Archon's Huskblade manages to Instant Kill both suits. +1 Pain Token to both units.

Some Splinter Rifle and two Splinter Cannons open up on the lone Tau HQ Suit, and kill it. +1 Pain Token.

- Tau Turn 5 -

Tau's entire game plan now was hoping the game went to Turn 6.

Ionhead moves in position for a Turn 6 Ram or Tank Shock.

Fire Warriors disembark from the last mobile Devil Fish. Devil Fish moves in front of a 5 man Kabalite Warrior unit.

Fire Warriors disembark from the Immobilized Devil Fish.

The last two suits get into firing position.

Devil Fish in the center lets loose a hail of fire, and kills three Kabalite Warriors. The Warriors hold.

Markerlights, Missile Pods and Pulse Rifles blow open the Incubi Armor, decimating all but a single Incubi. The Incubi holds.

20 Pulse Rifle weapons pour out death upon the Archon.

11 Wounds.

On wound number two, the Shadowfield fails... It flickers out of existence as it's power systems overload.

For 9 more wounds, the Archon's Ghostplate soaks up some of the damage, but what penetrates his armor, the Archon shrugs off the pain as if it were from a child's toy. Decades of torture and pain has served to save the Archon.

Between Ghostplate Armor and Feel No Pain, the Archon survives with a single wound left.

Tau player rolls to see if the game ends..... The game continues....

The Tau player smiles...

With a smile of his own, the Archon licks hot, delicious blood off of his lips, and painfully lifts his Huskblade high above his head, and charges the Fire Warriors....

- Dark Eldar Turn 6 -

The Dark Eldar forces go silent... The now pay attention to the lone Archon and lone Incubi.

Screaming in delight, the Archon throws himself into the Fire Warriors. The Archon cuts down 4 Fire Warriors. The Fire Warriors attempt to strike back, but cannot land a single blow. The Fire Warriors break, and with their backs exposed, the Archon slices and dices the remaining warriors.

Without making a single sound, the Incubi swiftly moves into combat with 10 Fire Warriors. The Incubi cuts down 3 Fire Warriors. The Fire Warriors strike back, but the Incubi shrugs off the pain (Feel No Pain). The Fire Warriors break, and the Incubi cuts them all down in retreat.

- Tau Turn 6 -

In desperation, the Tau Tank Shocks the Ionhead through Kabalite Warriors... The Ionhead is 3.1" away from the Objective!

One Devil Fish blows through the foundations of the Tower, and Rams the Raider that has been sitting in place immobilized the entire game. The Devil Fish snaps the weak Raider in two, and places itself within grasp of the objective.

The Immobilized Devil Fish simply turns on it's weapons, and drills holes into the Archon's back, dropping him.

Missiles from the Suits fail to kill the Incubi.

The Suits Charge the Incubi... After a few swift blows, the Incubi stands alone among the husks of bleeding mechanical suits.

Dark Eldar rolls.... and the game ends...

- Conclusion -

Dark Eldar hold one Objective

Tau hold none.

Victor - Dark Eldar

- Post Game Thoughts -

Splinter Cannons are proving themselves to be game winners. Before they were 24" range, but now with 36" and the ability to fire 6 shots, Splinter Cannons have shown to be a real power house.

Flickerfield. This game's MVP by far. Coupled with Nightshields, Flickerfields are just house. My Ravagers will now come stock with Flickerfields and Nightshields. And to think, for the cost of a single Nightshield in the previous Dark Eldar codex, Ravagers now get a 5++ save ontop of the Nightshield. Simply amazing.

Pain Tokens on my Archon and Incubi, giving them Feel No Pain, extended their lives immensely. Ghostplate Armor will now be stock on my Archon. DE players have been wanting a 4+ armor save for our HQs, and we finally got one. Just awesome!

This match was bloody and fun! I don't know what else to say really... The match speaks for itself....