It's been a while since I've gotten to play a game, in part because I had promised myself I couldn't get a game in until after I'd finished painting one of my units. With them done I could finally get in a game.
The imperial forces were made up of two formations, the White Scars formation that allows them to disembark, shoot, and re-embark, and the flyer formation (in this case Ultramarines).
The My Ulthwe force is a Craftworld Warhost with a an attached Path of Heroes formation. The Auxiliary Aspect host is Warp Spiders, Dire Avengers and Shining Spears and got the +1 BS.
there's a close up of my new Eldrad, but I should note, this is NOT a Seer Council. He's simply attached to a Warlock Conclave through the Guardian Host. (that Farseer is on a bike and is in the next picture).
This is a close up of my new Shining Spears unit. They've got an Autarch and Farseer on bikes attached. I pretty much built the army around this unit to give them a real test. In this close up you can also see the Solitaire, which is really one of my favorite models. He's also an absolute beast.
Of the last 7 games I've had in a row, 5 I lost the option to go first, and in the two I won the dice off I had the initiative seized. This time I was happy to break the trend when I rolled the dice off. Here you can see my set up after I scored 3 units getting to scout thanks to Eldrad's warlord trait.
This is what the White Scars looked like when they were deployed... moments before they seized the initiative from me, making it 8 games in a row that I've been forced to go second, and 3 games in a row on which I've been seized. I have learned to hate that rule.
At the close of the first turn the White Scars had managed to only inflict a single wound on the Avatar in their first turn with all their shooting. It's not that I rolled particularly well, but thanks to Shrouding in the Heroes' Path formation giving my Jester and Shadowseer a 2+ cover save, and my opponent's intensely bad luck hitting or wounding other targets I emerged almost totally unscathed.
My response was... lame. The Avatar missed shooting a Land Raider at point blank range (despite a 2+ rerollable, something he's now done for the second game in a row), but the D cannons managed to take out the Land Raider Netting me first blood. My combined shooting from the Shining Spears, Dire Avengers and WraithKnight managed to kill the honor guard that had been packed in the Raider leaving only the Character with a sword that inflicts ID on a 6 and his Librarian friend.
A close up of the Captain and his Librarian friend contemplating why they actually exited their sleep pods that morning.
At the top of Turn 2 the White Scars attempt to push forward in hopes of having a pincer attack on the fleet Ulthwe horde that is attempting to lance the center of his force. The White Scars Warlord on this mission is a Captain on bike and while he called in to his air reserve he only heard static in response. the Librarian tried casting spells, having one denied, and attracted the perils of the warp twice, once losing a wound and once becoming a super combat demigod. Jink saves and more atrocious shooting rolls meant another sad shooting phase for the White Scars, only managing to kill the Vyper and a single Shining Spear, though they did put 2 wounds on the farseer and wraithknight and another wound on the Avatar.
2 Brave Marines taking on the Avatar and none of them suffering wounds in.
The bottom of Turn 2 hits and it's decisive. The White Scars' left flank collapsed under the pressure of the Wraithknight bolstered by the firepower of the D-cannons, and 2 guardian squads slaughtering a rhino, All 10 marines from inside, and all the bikes on that flank save the attack bike. The Warp Spiders arrived killing the devastator squad that had taken a good firing position near an objective. Meanwhile the other 5 devastators that had advanced up the field were killed by a psychic shriek from the jetbike farseer who rolled up 3 6's for the shriek, only the second time I've done that since the first time I cast it in 6th edition. The rhino that had held another tactical squad was blown up by the War Walker. The spears then slammed into them driven by the rage of the Avatar. The marines were slaughtered before they even had a chance to draw their combat knives, suffering a total of 26 ap 2/3 wounds. Meanwhile, even though the warlocks ran in to support the Avatar in combat their assistance was necessary, because the Solitaire swept in like a blur and eliminated the Captain and Librarian.
The Center had broken and the Eldar had castled the center of the field.
The White Scars left flank had a regrouping attack bike, a rhino, with 5 marines and another 5 marines in the back field.
This is the end of the game, when we called it at the bottom of turn 3. The Captain had made a gambit to turn the tide, if only the air support would arrive, the Eldar had no immediate way to respond, but alas, on the radio was nowt but static. He pushed his squad at the Dire Avengers slamming in to the unit. He hammered the Exarch with wrath causing a wound and then challenged the Exarch to a duel and the xenos accepted. They circled each other but the captain struck while the Exarch was still recovering and attempting to find an open angle to get leverage with his power axe. Thanks to a sweet set of invulnerable saves the Exarch tanked all but 1 wound, finally falling in combat. No further wounds occurred. From there the Eldar slaughtered any living marine. The Wraithknight killed 5 marines that had been in a rhino. The Warp Spiders killed 3 marines at the AA gun and the Solitaire Blitzed in and overkilled the last two. Meanwhile the Jetbikes and Avatar slammed in to the White Scar Captain and his squad and they were slaughtered to a man. The Captain's final breath was spent telling the air support to turn back as the day was lost.
The solitaire had taken Objective 2 from the White Scars, and with it the AA gun. What mischief could he get up to with that?
The Avatar, Spears, and Dire Avengers obliterate the last of the White Scar's forces.
In the last turn I was able to pile on powers like enervate, jinx to seriously hinder the bike unit (enfeeble didn't work). While the warlock council didn't actively do a lot of damage they threw out blessings and maledictions that either boosted my units (Guide for the D cannons) or hindered his (Jinx meant he couldn't really tank with the artificer armor on his Captain and had to Jink, reducing his shooting ability) in a way that really helped me control the game. They weren't as in your face as I tend to use the full council, but they still made a massive impact.
I built the list around the spears, including keeping them within the Avatar's awesomeness bubble and attaching a dedicated Farseer for Prescience and Autarch for extra damage. All in all it was probably overkill. I really want to test them now by backing off how much I build around them. For instance I think I can drop either the Autarch or the Avatar and still get quite a good showing from them. That said the unit with support was insanely good, taking out units in ways that surprised my opponent. The loss of access to Hit and Run does seem like a weird issue, almost like an oversight for the unit, and would actually make them much more viable for most players. The ability to get a cover save without having to jink can make a heck of a difference during the shooting phase, especially if you're shooting at a vehicle with your star lance, hoping to get at the squishy insides. Of course I need more practice with the unit to make sure I'm getting the most out of them, hopefully without over-investing my resources into making them complete ass kicking name takers.
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