Week 2... High Ground vs. Eldar (Colin)

OK, I’ll admit up front, this post will be much LESS spectacular than the last one. Colin and I started our game fairly late, so rushed through it as quick as possible (including me conceding in Turn 4 as the store closed). Without further adue…

My list looked COMPLETELY different than my first game – straight Chaos undivided.
Daemon Prince w/ Wings
10 CSM w/ Chaos Glory and 2 meltaguns (no champion) (sewers)
10 CSM w/ Chaos Glory and 2 Plasmaguns (no champion) (deployed)
10 CSM w/ Chaos Glory and 1 Plasmagun and 1 Missile (no champion) (deployed)
10 CSM w/ Chaos Glory and 1 Plasmagun and 1 Missile (no champion) (deployed)
10 Summoned Lesser Daemons (reserves)

The thought here was to overwhelm the puny pointy eared ones. As I will learn, that is tougher than one thinks, even IF sporting power armor…

Colin’s list (nutshell version)
Farseer w/ Guide and Doom and Stones
10 Dire Avengers – Exarch w/ dual cats and bladestorm
10 Dire Avengers – Exarch w/ Dire Sword/Pistol and defend
5 Pathfinders
5 Pathfinders
2 Wraithlords – I think both had Brightlance and Wraithsword

I chose Sewer Rats and surrounded the objective building with them; also chose razorwire and surrounded Colin’s deployment zone w/ them.

Colin chose Master Snipers and ammo dump. EXCELLENT choices as we'll soon see...

Colin and I used the v5 deployment method, so Colin deployed first, putting Pathfinders in 2 ruins, one of which was the ammo dump. Dires & Seer are all swarmed up behind the main objective; Wraithlords are flanking Dire-swarm.

I put Plasmagun unit between two ruins and the two Missile units in ruins with Prince behind a ruin for now.

I try to Seize the Initiative, and here’s where it all pretty much goes to shit… I don’t get the initiative.

Turn 1 sees Colin moving up the Dires and Lords. Snipers fire away and I believe kill a few of my Plasmagun unit – two, I think?

Turn 1 for me sees my Plasmagun unit and one Missile unit (closest to objective) moving forward; Prince also moving forward. Firing is ineffective – can’t even remember what I shot at, but all I shot was the missile launcher because that is all that could reach anything (or at least DO anything – bolters vs. Wriathlords being as effective as spit wads vs. adamantium).

Colin’s Turn 2 sees one Dire unit enter the objective (with Farseer) and the other one hugging the “far side” of said objective as it moves forward. Sniper Fire takes out a few of my Plasmagun Marines (damned AP 1 shots and Master Sniper combo) and PINS them. Seriously, re-rollable LD 9, and I fail TWICE. WTF, man?!? On a side note, my dice are ICE at this point. It started with the Seize Initiative roll and ended at the end of the game – in other words, I lost this game primarily because of dice (not to mention Colin’s excellent use of stratagems – fucking Pathfinders… heeheeehee). I’m pretty sure this is where my Prince dies to fire as well. At least I remember that my Prince cost me 130 points and netted me all of ZILCH, dying before seeing the sweetness of close combat!

My Turn 2 and the daemons arrive. I’d have preferred a later arrival, but since I *needed* them to arrive later, they sure made it a point to arrive NOW… At least I’m able to get them “forward” via the pinned icon bearer, and they’re now perched in front of the objective and Dire Avenger unit sheltering inside it. Of course, they deep struck into difficult terrain and I managed to loose 2 of the 10 to dangerous terrain. Grrr… The Meltagun Sewer squad also arrives, popping out of a hatch adjacent to the Pathfinders in the Ammo Dump. For “regular” movement, the two Missile squads move up, while the Plasmagun squad hugs cover for being pinned… Shooting is totally ineffective. 2+ cover saves on the Pathfinders in the Ammo Dump. Need I say more? Assaults… the rest of the daemons charge into the Dire Avengers in the objective building. Dires go first, I loose 2 daemons (now down to 6), Daemons then go and do next to nothing. Well, at least the Dires are tar-pitted.

Turn 3. Things are going crazy fast at this point and I’m sketchy on the details… (any help you can provide Colin and I’ll be happy to edit this for accuracy).

Colin moves the 2nd Dire avenger squad into position to charge the Meltagun unit. Lords move up and shoot, don’t recall it being terribly effective, but dual flamers did do at least some damage IIRC. Pathfinders take their toll on the Meltagun unit. At least they pass their LD test. For assaults, the Dires charge the meltagun unit and both Lords charge Marine Squads ("close" missile and Plasmagun units). Did I mention I didn’t take any champions? Did I mention I have no Power Fists in the list…

In the bottom of Turn 3, I think I loose one or two of my CSM squads; one getting Sweeping Advanced to death. I have next to nothing and time is running out.

Turn 4 sees Colin wrap up my last CSM squad with a Lord and the end of my Daemons. I have nothing in the building and my last two scoring units are stuck on Wraithlords. So I concede as the store prepares to close.

Colin got the Massacre – we surmised that the CSM wouldn’t survive another round w/ the Lords and had we played it out, I’d be completely wiped out.

20 BPs for Colin, Zilch for me.


Lets see… Analysis. I lost this game in List Construction. I compounded the fact with terrible dice. Colin compounded the fact with an excellent use of Stratagems (so why is it that MY pathfinders suck eggs and Colin’s rip Chaos Marines a new asshole…?). I never had a chance.

Small point games, and I tend to go “basic” and keep things cheap. Now I realize that’s not necessarily a good idea. Champions and Power Fists/ Swords would have helped. A LOT. Something “fast” like Bikes or Raptors would have probably neutralized one of the Pathfinder threats, maybe both if I could have gotten up on the first one early enough to then go over and whack the other unit. Maybe even a transport… But Colin was sporting 2 Brightlances, so given the luck I had in that game, I’m not sure a Transport would have actually netted me anything.

Stratagems also played a HUGE factor in this game. Mine were ineffective. Razorwire was crossed in the first turn, making it useless. Sewer rats is still my FAVORITE stratagem, but Ice Dice makes it have less *sizzle*. Colin re-rolling missed Hits on the Pathfinders (ammo dump), getting a mathematically unreal number of AP1 hits and some rends in there too (nothing like taking a couple of AP 1 wounds AND a rending wound or two…), and great use of Doom.

Excellent game, Colin. I think the funniest part was when we diced off for table quarter. Colin won. Yusif (sp?), Colin’s first opponent of the night, pointed out that “That” side was the lucky side of the table (the side Yusif used to Massacre Colin in game 1), and Colin chose it. Yusif was right… ;-) LOL.