BLOOD ANGELS versus Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Secure and Control
Level: Omega
1st turn: Blood Angels
Points: 1500

Blood Angels

• Dante
  
• Chaplain with plasma pistol and jump pack
• 9 Death company
• 5 Assault marines, plasma pistol
• 5 Assault marines, plasma pistol
• 5 Veteran assault marines, plasma pistol, powerfist
• 5 Tactical marines, flamer, veteran with power fist, in Razorback with lascannon
• Venerable Furioso Dreadnought
• Predator destructor with heavy bolter sponsors

Eldar

• Farseer and retinue, Fortune and Doom
• Dire Avengers, Exarch with Diresword
• Falcon
• Howling Banshees in Wave Serpent
• Wraithlord
• Guardians with Starcannon
• Guardians with 2 fusion guns
• Fire Dragons
• Vyper with brightlance
• Warp Spiders, Exarch with withdraw

Terrain and deployment
Due to the sheer number of players in the store we couldn't get a 40k table and had to settle for a fantasy one instead. We decided that it was a fight on an Eldar maiden world which had recently been settled by the Imperium for use as an Agriworld. The Space marines had been drawn to the planet after whispers of Chaos worship. The Eldar show up to drive off the Mon-Keigh and discover to their horror that they have built a temple to Slaanesh. The three loot counters were the leaders of the Chaos cult.

We classed the intact buildings as impassable terrain, the large temple as area 3 and the rocks were what you see is what you get.

As you can see, apart from the large terrain pieces which were a fair distance apart, there was no other cover. A bit problematic for my Blood Angels.

The game
I won choice of first turn and gave it to my opponent. With no models of mine on the table it effectively wasted an Eldar turn but more importantly gave me last turn for objective grabbing. I also wanted to see where the Eldar reserves would be committed before I rolled for my own.

Gary moved up to the objectives and got decent reserve rolls, with the Wraithlord, Warp Spiders and Howling Banshees in the Wave Serpent appearing. I got the Tac squad in the Razorback, the Death Company and Chaplain, Dreadnought and an Assault squad. I decided my main attack would be on the right where I could leap from one objective to the other making the best use of cover.

Gary rolled failed his other reserve rolls and nothing else arrived. That was good for him but bad for me. Especially as I got Dante and the second Assault squad and had to commit them to the right. There was no doubt what my plan was now. The Eldar moved accordingly with the Howling Banshees dismounting behind the temple and the Warp Spiders and Wraithlord manoeuvring to form a second assault wave.

I boldly broke cover with the Death Company and only just failed to assault the Dire Avengers in the temple (I needed a 5+ difficult terrain check). The whole Eldar army shot at the doomed marines, including the newly arrived Falcon. Five died.

My survivors charged the Warp Spiders. The combat was brutal, with two Death Company going down to the Exarch's power blades in exchange for two Warp Spiders croaking at the Chaplain's hands. The Warp Spiders withdrew so I consolidated into the Howling Banshees. I knew I would die, but at least I'd stop the pointy ears from charging me. In the event I took out all but two of the Banshees which effectively put them out of the game.

Following in the wake of the Death Company, Dante and his Assault squad contacted the Dire Avengers. An almighty combat broke out as the Farseer and his cronies barrelled in to help out. The Dire Avengers were broken for the loss of all the Assault marines (I failed four saves from five while the fortuned Farseer squad passed eight out of nine saves). That meant a morale check for Dante which I failed. I rolled a six for his initiative retreat but then so did the Farseer. Dante was killed.


So my main attack had been halted. On the right, my Tactical squad had moved in behind the objective in the rocks while the Razorback traded fire with the ineffectually with the Vyper. The stalemate was broken when the Warp Spiders popped the transport. My predator had rolled on in the fourth turn and I used it to kill four of the Fire Dragons. I wanted to use it as rolling cover for the Assault squad to advance behind but this proved impossible when the Falcon immobilised it. The Assault squad then had to break cover and try to drive the Guardians out of the temple. I luckily only lost two marines on the way in and then they easily slaughtered the Eldar. Just as they were about to dance a victory jig the Falcon swooped in to contest the objective. The objective on my far left was in Eldar hands and I had no units to challenge them with so the last fight was on the right.

The Warp Spiders were getting very cocky so they charged into the rocky terrain to drive off my Tactical squad. I wiped out the entire Warp Spider unit with some good dice rolling. I swept down the hill six inches which put the Veteran sergeant within 12" of the Falcon. In a last ditch ploy to win the game he tried to drag the Falcon out of the sky with his powerfist but failed. Meanwhile, the Farseer unit charged my Dreadnought and blew it up, only to be counter charged by my Veterans. Three warlocks died to the initial charge so it was the Farseer's turn to run. The Veterans consolidated back toward the objective and claimed it.

Result: Loss (1 objective each plus 1 contested, Eldar win on victory points)

Commendations

• Blood Angels - The Death Company and Chaplain
• Eldar - Farseer and retinue

Turning point
The death of Dante

Learning points

• This Blood Angel army is very fragile. It needs more warm bodies to absorb the inevitable casualties when the terrain is patchy.
• Dante is very tough but vulnerable in a unit where he loses his fearless rule. However, he would also be vulnerable to enemy shooting on his own. He is probably too expensive for a 1500 point game where a regular Captain would do just as well for fewer points.
• Escalation is playing havoc with my plans. I can't launch a co-ordinated attack because I keep getting my jump packers arriving across three turns. I don't really know how I can improve this other than buying new dice!
  

SPACE MARINES - BLOOD ANGELS versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Take and hold
Level: Gamma
1st turn: Blood Angels
Points: 1500

Blood Angels

• Mephiston
• Chaplain with plasma pistol and jump pack
• 8 Death company
• 10 Assault marines, 2 plasma pistols
• 5 Veteran assault marines, plasma pistol, powerfist
• 5 Tactical marines, flamer, veteran with power fist in Razorback with lascannon
• Venerable Furioso Dreadnought
• Predator destructor with heavy bolter sponsors

Chaos Space Marines

• Lord, Mark of Khorne, Juggernaught, Daemon weapon
• Lord, Daemon weapon
• Greater daemon
  
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 8 Khorne Berzerkers
• 8 Marines, Mark of Khorne, 2 plasma guns, champ with power fist
• 2 Obliterators
• Predator, twin lascannon, heavy bolters, possessed
• Predator, twin lascannon, heavy bolters, possessed
  

Terrain and Deployment
There were several large area three buildings in a large oval around an empty killing ground in the middle of the table. The objective was right in the middle of this empty area.

The game
Gary won choice of first turn and gave it to me so that he would get the last crucial turn. I moved warily up each flank as you can see in the pictures.


You can just about see my Death Company and Dreadnought on the right while the Tactical marines in the Razorback, the Assault squad and Mephiston take the left. Gary used his two predators to screen his foot troops in the centre.

The Greater daemon summoned on from the Chaos Marine squad behind the vehicles. I continued to advance up each flank but left my own predator hidden in my deployment zone along with my Veterans.


On the third turn Gary turned his predators sideways in the centre to protect his infantry. I immobilised one with my predator and then destroyed it next turn. My Veterans used it for cover to advance in the centre.

Gary's Obliterators dropped in and killed some of my Assault marines. His marine squad walked around the corner of the building and double-tapped the Assault marines too. The second predator destroyed my Dreadnought as it broke cover. That was the first real action of the game and it left me smarting.

In reply, I flew Mephiston out of the Assault marines to charge a Berzerker squad. He only killed two of them and subsequently lost two wounds to their powerfist. Meanwhile, the depleted Assault squad attacked the Chaos marines. Against the odds the Blood Angels won the combat and ran down the fleeing traitors. Nice.


The regular Lord charged into Mephiston. The Greater daemon got the charge into my Veterans. The Juggernaught Lord and a Berzerker squad were close behind. The Obliterators destroyed my predator.

Mephiston showed his destructive potential by killing all six remaining Berzerkers. The Lord then took him out with eleven attacks on his daemon weapon.

There was now a big brawl on the objective. The Jugger Lord steamed in alongside the Greater daemon with his Berzerkers, while the Death company helped out the Veterans. The loyalists came out on top when the Lord rolled a double one for his daemon weapon.


I killed an Obliterator with the Razorback's lascannon but the accompanying Tactical squad was stranded too far from the objective with their poor terrain rolls (one inch movement followed by two inches in the next turn). This was kind of a blessing in disguise as they were also never in any danger so their victory points were preserved.


The last scoring unit on the objective, Gary's predator, was popped by my Razorback. That meant that no-one could take and hold the objective so my Blood Angels won on straight victory points.

Result: Win

Commendations

• Blood Angels - Assault squad
• Chaos - Obliterators

Turning point
My Assault squad winning the combat, against the odds, against the Chaos marines.

Learning points

• An even tougher environment for Mephiston - 3 hidden powerfists, a Greater daemon, 2 Lords with daemon weapons of Khorne and two Obliterators. I might try someone else in my next game. He did kill an entire eight man Khorne Berzerker squad single-handedly, though!
• I need some more bite in my Veterans and Assault squad - powerfists, power weapons and or melta/flamer/plasma weapons.
  

SPACE MARINES - BLOOD ANGELS versus Chaos Space Marines

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Steve
Mission: Cleanse
Level: Omega
1st turn: Steve
Points: 1500

Blood Angels

• Mephiston
• Chaplain with plasma pistol and jump pack
• 8 Death company
• 10 Assault marines, 2 plasma pistols
• 5 Veteran assault marines, plasma pistol, powerfist
• 5 Tactical marines, flamer, veteran with power fist in Razorback with lascannon
• Venerable Furioso Dreadnought
• Predator destructor with heavy bolter sponsors

Chaos Space Marines

• Daemon Prince with Lash
• Lord, Mark of Slaanesh, power weapon
• 3 Obliterators
• 6 Havocs with 4 missile launchers
• 6 Havocs with 3 heavy bolters
• 5 Terminators, 3 power fists, heavy flamer
• 10 Marines, 2 plasma guns, champ with power fist
• 10 Marines, plasma gun, melta gun, champ with power fist

Terrain and Deployment
There were several large area three buildings in a large oval around an empty killing ground in the middle of the table.

The game
Due to escalation, I started with just Mephiston on the board! Steve had the majority of his army from turn one with just the Daemon Prince and Terminators in reserve. He moved a marine squad and the Lord out to my right toward Mephiston. Mephiston edged around the building toward them.


Steve’s other marine squad moved forward out of his firebase. I got the Tactical marines and Razorback, the Predator and the Chaplain and Death Company. I didn’t think I had any chance of advancing the jump packers behind the vehicles right across the centre of the board so I tried a risky move. I deep struck the Death Company into the far left corner, hoping they would be protected by two level three buildings. Their shooting killed two heavy bolter havocs. My tanks concentrated on the Obliterators but did no damage.


Steve got his Terminators and Daemon Prince from reserve. He brought his Terminators up behind his Marines and Lord on the right. Mephiston was looking very vulnerable all on his own. The Daemon Prince swooped in next to the Death Company. He successfully cast lash and moved the Death Company a few inches so that the Obliterators could target them through the small gap between the buildings. Three plasma cannons later and four marines lay dead. The Daemon Prince charged in. Over the next few turns he killed the rest of the Death Company until the Chaplain finally found some strength to knock him down. The Chaplain then got blasted by the Obliterators.


Meanwhile, my Predator and Razorback were blown up in the middle. I pushed my Tactical marines through the large building in my deployment zone. They were joined by the Dreadnought on turn three, but I didn’t get those crucial assault squads. That meant I had to throw Mephiston in on his own against the Terminators. He killed four of them but was then charged by the marine squad (with hidden power fist) and the Lord. In the nick of time he got all Derren Brown on the Lord and transfixed him. Mephiston sliced his head off but was then cut down by the marines.

On turn four I got my assault marines but the veterans were still nowhere to be seen. I deployed them on the left to back up my Dreadnought and Tactical marines who were advancing on the Chaos marine squad. Four of my assault marines got shot by the havocs and they promptly failed their morale check and flew straight back off the board. The Dreadnought managed to launch an assault on the Chaos marines a turn later. It took him four rounds of combat to see them off as I rolled appallingly.


I pulled the accompanying Tactical marines back to defend my starting table quarter as I had a small chance to turn the game around. If my Dreadnought could push on to take the Chaos starting quarter and my Veterans could wipe out the marines on my right I might just squeak it.

On turn five I finally got the Veterans. I brought them on to challenge the marines on the right. They took the squad down below half strength but were then chopped up by the lone surviving Terminator. Steve had to start moving his havocs to capture table quarters so there was no shooting.


My Dreadnought was closing on the heavy bolter havocs and we kept rolling for the extra turns but I just couldn’t roll higher than a two on the difficult terrain rolls for movement or assault. In fact, the lumbering Dreadnought couldn't even make it into the Chaos table quarter despite being only a few inches away.

In the end I captured one table quarter while Steve had one too. He was miles ahead on victory points, though.

Commendations

• Blood Angels - Mephiston for killing four Terminators and the Lord
• Chaos Space Marines - Obliterators for killing Death company, the Razorback and driving off the Assault squad

Turning point
My staggered reserve rolls meant I couldn't launch a co-ordinated attack.

Learning points

• The army didn’t work in escalation because Mephiston was the only model starting on the board and my reserve rolls were poor.
• Mephiston is offensively powerful but has a defensive weakness because he has no invulnerable save. He also very expensive in a 1500 point game.
• I urgently need to change and/or upgrade the weapons and equipment in my squads to give them some ranged and close combat power.
• Lash and plasma cannons on Obliterators is a good combo!

CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Necrons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary

We had played a couple of games with Gary's Necrons and he was really enjoying the change. He had won one game and drawn another and we both wondered how they would fare against a more competitive Chaos list - I had been experimenting with alternative lists (dropping staple units such as the speed Prince, Obliterators and heavy bolter havocs). This time I picked a list to specifically take out the 'bots.

Points value: 950
Mission: Recon
Level: Gamma
First turn: Necrons

Chaos Space Marines

• Lieutenant on Bike, Lightning Claw, Daemonic armour
• Lord, Daemonic stature, Daemonic speed, Daemonic resilience, Daemonic armour
  
• 8 Havocs, 2 autocannon, missile launcher
  
• 8 Marines, plasma gun, lascannon
  
• 8 Marines, infiltrate, flamer, plasma pistol, Aspiring champion with powerfist
  
• 6 Furies
  
• 6 Daemonettes

Necrons

• 10 Warriors
• 10 Warriors
• 4 Destroyers
• Heavy Destroyer
• Heavy Destroyer
• Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb and Nightmare veil
• 6 Scarab bases

Terrain and Deployment
This was a heavily terrained board. There were two area three line of sight blockers in the middle of the table - one ruined building on my left and a wood on my right. I also had some level two ruins in my central deployment zone. I refused the right flank, only putting the biker lieutenant out there. I had the las/plas squad and speed prince behind the large ruin and the havoc squad in the smaller ruins. I infiltrated the close combat squad behind the wood.

The destroyers all cowered behind the wood. One warrior squad began on each flank.

The game
The Necrons took first turn. The Lord teleported the warrior squad on my left, way over the board to my extreme right. Their shooting stripped a wound off my biker lieutenant. He charged in and clawed four of them. One stood back up then the Lord teleported them a few inches back. Again they shot the lieutenant and they removed his last wound.

Meanwhile, the destroyers killed three havocs. I pushed the infiltrators through the wood and their meltaguns dropped a heavy destroyer. My Havocs tried to kill the other but failed their target priority test and hit the scarabs instead. That meant the heavy destroyer came back online.

All the time I was pushing the speed prince and las/plas squad through the large ruin. All the destroyers turbo boosted into the far right corner, obviously worried about my advance and the prospect of the daemons. The scarabs formed up in front of the flyers as a screen.

I got my daemonettes. They summoned from the infiltrators and they had just enough movement to hit the scarabs. I continued to push up on the now deserted left flank.

The daemonettes took the scarabs down to a single base. The Necron lord tried to teleport in next to the second warrior squad to rescue them from the advancing daemons but he scattered off the board. The destroyers were now hemmed into the corner.

The daemonettes finished off the scarabs and just contacted the warriors. The Furies were summoned and also hit the warriors. Unsurprisingly the warriors were slaughtered and the two survivors ran. It meant both units of daemons were sitting targets for the destroyers, though.

I passed four out of six saves on the daemonettes and only one fury went down. That sealed the fate of the destroyers. On the last turn the daemonettes assaulted the destroyers, the furies assaulted the heavy destroyers and the speed prince caught the last warriors. The Necrons phased out.

Result: Win

Commendations
Exigators - Daemonettes
Necrons - Lord and teleporting warriors

Turning point
The lord scattering off the table.

Learning points

• This was a much tougher Chaos list, specifically designed to beat the 'bots. Although there were fewer units they could actually project more force onto the Necrons through their speed, weapon range, special deployment and summoning. I also boosted the squads up to eight models so that they could withstand a round of shooting without losing key models.
• The teleporting warrior squad is a powerful but risky unit. It paid off when they killed the lieutenant but backfired when the lord scattered off the table.

CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Necrons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary

Again I turned up with a 1500 point army and again I played a much smaller game against Necrons. Gary had enjoyed his run out with the over-excited toasters so much he went out and bought some Heavy Destroyers to add to his army. I simply added a Predator to my previous list.

Points value: 950
Mission: Seek and Destroy
Level: Alpha
First turn: Chaos

Chaos Space Marines

• Lieutenant on Bike, Lightning Claw
• 5 Marines, meltagun, heavy bolter
  
• 5 Marines, plasma gun, heavy bolter
• 5 Marines, plasma gun, lascannon
  
• 5 Marines, flamer, plasma pistol, Aspiring champion with powerfist
  
• 5 Marines, plasma gun, missile launcher
• 6 Daemonettes
• Dreadnought, twin lascannon
• Predator, twin Lascannon and Heavy Bolter sponsons
  

Necrons

• 10 Warriors
• 10 Warriors
• 4 Destroyers
• Heavy Destroyer
• Heavy Destroyer
• Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb and Nightmare veil
• 6 Scarab bases

Deployment and Terrain
The photograph below shows the terrain and deployment after the end of the first turn.


The Game
Gary won the choice of first turn but gave it to me. I moved up around the right of the pivotal wood. Long range lascannon fire dropped two Warriors.

The Necrons swept around the left of the wood. My Daemonettes summoned into the wood but failed to contact the Destroyers. The Scarabs charged in and killed them all. This in turn left them vulnerable to a charge from my close assault squad and the aspiring champion began to swat them with his powerfist.

Meanwhile, the Lord teleported and scattered to my left. I killed four Necrons and the survivors broke. They didn't run far, though, and decent We'll be Back rolls meant the squad rallied. I lost an entire squad to Destroyer fire.

The Destroyer took out the Dreadnought, too, with two sixes on the glancing chart. My Lieutenant whizzed out around the back of the woods to threaten the trailing, and so far untouched, Warrior squad. He wasn't required, though, as my close assault squad finished off the scarabs and slaughtered the Warriors in a single shattering charge.

The Necron Lord teleported right into my lines and killed several marines. They took light casualties before zipping off and reappearing behind the Predator. The vehicle exploded in another glancing 6. A las/plas squad stepped up to deliver the hurt, but they failed to do any real damage and the Lord punished them for their failure.

I now went after the Heavy Destroyers, trying to reduce the Necron scoring units. One fell to a lascannon shot then my melta gun squad flubbed its rolls to kill the other. The Lieutenant dropped him instead with some lucky combi-bolter shots.

The Lord and his Warriors shot up another of my units, while the Destroyers killed my Lieutenant. We both had a single scoring unit left at the end of the game.

Result: Draw

Commendations
Necrons - teleporting Lord
Chaos - close assault marines

Turning point
The Necron WBB and rally rolls to save the Lord's teleporting unit.

Learning points

• Gary played this game very sportingly which allowed me to draw the game. We both enjoyed the wild swings of fortune during the battle.
• The Necrons have the edge in mobility and firepower. The CSM have an assault advantage but no real way to engage in the combat. Even the Lieutenant, who had an 18" assault move, didn't get into a single scrap.

CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Necrons

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary

After a couple of 'of the cuff' games against Gary's Dark Eldar I decided to sit down and write a decent army list to take on the pointy-ears. Unfortunately, on the day I didn't have enough time to play a 1500 point game so Gary suggested we play a smaller game using his Necrons. He used everything he had and the army totalled 820 points. I used loads of my units plucked out of my original lists as I didn't want to be too 'cheesy' and pick units especially good against the 'bots.

Points value: 820
Mission: Recon
Level: Gamma
First turn: Chaos

Chaos Space Marines

• Lieutenant on Bike, Lightning Claw
• 5 Marines, meltagun, heavy bolter
  
• 5 Marines, plasma gun, heavy bolter
• 5 Marines, plasma gun, lascannon
  
• 6 Marines, flamer, plasma pistol, Aspiring champion with powerfist
  
• 5 Marines, plasma gun, missile launcher
• 6 Daemonettes
  
• Dreadnought, twin lascannon
  

Necrons

• 10 Warriors
• 10 Warriors
• 2 Destroyers
• 2 Destroyers
• Necron Lord with Resurrection Orb and Nightmare veil
• 6 Scarab bases

Terrain and Deployment
We played on a 6x4 foot table. Gary had laid out the terrain in advance. We had two low hills in the centre, rocky columns and a ruined shrine on the right, and some rubble and a wood on the left. Both Warrior units began in and behind the wood with the Lord amongst them. The Scarabs started in the middle and both Destroyer units were on my wide right.

I deployed my Chaos army predominantly in the centre and left, refusing the right flank.

The Game
I won first turn. My Dreadnought rolled fire frenzy. I had a nervous moment until I realised I could just see two Warriors deep in the wood, otherwise I would have been targeting my own troops! My shooting came to nothing anyway but I managed to move four squads forward.

Both Destroyers units stayed tight on my right flank and shot at the Dread but failed to hurt it. One Warrior squad walked up through the wood but the other used the Veil to deep strike on the right flank. They deviated close to my lines. They slaughtered a las/plas squad with rapid firing.

My Daemonettes were summoned from the other las/plas squad in prime assault range of the Lord and Warriors. They charged, as did the Dreadnought. I killed eight models and the two survivors were run down by the daemons. A twenty minute discussion then ensued regarding the Resurrection Orb and whether it allowed units to re-animate outside of 6" of a similar model. In the end we said the squad was dead. The Dreadnought moved into the Lord.

I pushed the models forward on the left again and scattered fire took out a couple of Warriors in the wood. I zoomed the biker lieutenant from the left to right to help out against the Scarabs and Destroyers.

The Scarabs charged the Daemonettes, killing three for the loss of a base. The las/plas squad charged in. The biker lord tried to crash the party but fell short. The Lord teleported out of combat with the Dread over to the left flank. The Destroyers felled the Dreadnought. Awesome Necron shooting and some appalling armour saves meant I lost my assault squad with the aspiring champion, too.

Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime I passed six armour saves on my lord. That allowed him to contact the Scarabs who were overwhelmed and destroyed, though they did take the Daemonettes out with them.

On the left the Lord and Warriors won a war of attrition with my last squad and I was short of phasing the 'bots out by two models. I couldn't catch the Destroyers or shoot them due to dusk falling, so I threw a las/plas squad into the Necron deployment zone. Both Destroyer units made it into the Chaos deployment zone.

Result: Loss

Commendations

• Chaos - Daemonettes
  
• Necrons - Destroyers
  

Turning point
Failing the armour saves on the squad with the powerfist. If I had achieved combat the Necrons would almost certainly have phased out.

Learning points

• This Necron army is quick. On a large board with a small armies I just couldn't get anywhere near the Destroyers. It's another example of why I think 40k is now a game of mobile firepower.
• Have the FAQ for your codex to hand at all times. We wasted 20 minutes while we argued about the Veil during the game. Afterwards we checked the FAQ on the website and it clarified the rules (we had played it right). If we'd had the rules at the time then we could have moved on more quickly.
• Gary made some noises about playing a campaign. It's something I'm really interested in doing to get a bit more depth from out games. The only problem is the extra time and effort it takes to run one. Still, I'll start mulling things over...

CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Dark Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary

Following my drubbing in the last game I decided to put together a completely different army; one that might actually work! Out went the small number of tough models and in came a raft of smaller, cheaper models. I flooded the board with 54 Marines and some supporting Daemons, as well as the Predator. I was getting fairly close to maxing out the force organisation chart which is usually tricky with Marines! In order to do that I had to drop each unit down to six models, even the Thousand Sons. It was a shame I didn't have any Slaaneshi units in the army. My opponent stuck with the same Dark Eldar list as it had done very well for him first time around.

We initially rolled up another Seek and Destroy mission but decided to re-roll rather than play the same mission twice. The second roll came up Take and Hold at Alpha level. Some players seem to think that Alpha missions are for beginners or somehow boring, but I strongly disagree. Including Alpha missions along with Gamma and Omega missions ensures that one-trick pony armies that rely entirely on special rules don't get their own way all the time. Anything that encourages players to include a wide range of units and tactics has to be a good thing. I wish that Alpha missions would be included in the Grand Tournaments. I feel sure that we would start to see a wider variety of army lists.

Anyway, enough of the rant and on to the game.

Mission: Take and Hold
Level: Alpha
First turn: Dark Eldar

Chaos Space Marines

• Lieutenant on Bike, Lightning Claw
• 6 Thousand Sons
• 6 Raptors, two flamers
• 6 Furies
  
• 6 Marines, meltagun, heavy bolter
  
• 6 Marines, plasma gun, heavy bolter
• 6 Marines, plasma gun, heavy bolter
• 6 Marines, plasma gun, autocannon
  
• 6 Marines, flamer, autocannon
  
• 6 Marines, meltagun, missile launcher
• 5 Possessed with daemonic talons
  
• Predator, twin lascannon, 2 Heavy Bolters

Dark Eldar

• 10 Warriors, 2 Dark Lances
• 10 Warriors, 2 Dark Lances
• 8 Wyches, Raider
• 8 Wyches, Raider
• 8 Wyches, Raider
• Ravager, Night Shield
• Ravager, Night Shield
• Talos
• Warp Beasts
• Archon
• Drachite

Terrain and Deployment
Gary hadn't changed the set-up from our last battle. The table had two distinct types of terrain. On my right flank I had some bunkers and ruined buildings surrounded by low walls and barricades. We classified this as area three terrain to give Gary a sporting chance. In the middle and on my left there were two large woods which we called area level three, and lots and lots of scattered rock columns which were impassable.

Due to the mission I began with the majority of my units in a central position, behind the wood which had to be taken. I had the Raptors out wide left and the Thousand Sons anchoring my right. The Dark Eldar favoured my left flank, taking as much cover as they could from the woods and rocky columns. We both knew that if Chaos won first turn it would be an extremely difficult game for the Dark Eldar as I would be able to shoot down the Raiders while they were stationary.

The Game
Gary won first turn, much to his relief. He brought most of his force up behind the central wood with a Wych squad zooming up each flank. His shooting was poor - my Predator shrugged off several Dark Lance shots only becoming immobilised, while just 3 marines died.

I pushed the possessed toward the middle wood and the Raptors behind the wood on my left. The Thousand Sons came up to bring the wyches near the objective into sight. My shooting was also sub-par - I destroyed a Ravager and killed a few wyches.

The Dark Eldar launched their assault. The wyches on my right hit the Thousand Sons but the automatons held. The depleted wyches in the middle got to the possessed and wiped out the entire squad. The warp beasts bounded past them to attack a marine unit. In an appalling show of dice the squad caused no wounds and took three in return. The survivors broke and fled. The third wych squad got tangled up in the woods and failed to contact the Raptors.

The Raptors flamed the wyches out of existence. Combined small arms fire obliterated the wyches in the centre and the last wych squad was overwhelmed in combat when I pitched two more units of marines into the fight. I had beaten off the first wave.

Now the second wave arrived. The combat on the right had left my units slightly exposed which meant the Archon could reach them. The Drachite sprinted through the woods and tied up a squad in the centre.

I summoned my Furies but they deviated 10" away from the action. That meant I had to throw the biker lord into the Drachite, but she slaughtered him. The Archon finished off the first squad of marines then charged the second. The Drachite fluffed her attacks meaning she was stuck in combat when the Furies arrived. They ripped her to pieces. The two marine survivors moved out to intercept the Archon and slow her down. Together with the Furies they prevented her from getting anywhere near the objective.

My predator finally succumbed to a dark lance shot. The Thousand Sons had pushed on up the right flank and were trading fire with a warrior squad. The warriors were taken down below half strength but so were the Thousand Sons.

On the left, my Raptors had jumped over the wood and incinerated the other warrior squad. Three Raptors died to ravager fire and the survivors jumped back behind the wood.

We took stock.

Gary had that ravager and the talos near the objective. I had one marine squad and the Raptors to contest the objective but both were down to half strength. Any casualties and they wouldn't be scoring.

I had to zoom the Raptors out into the open to get near the objective. The ravager killed one and took them to non-scoring status. I had manged to work a squad up the left into the woods and their fire shot the ravager out of the sky. One scoring unit left on each side.

I shot everything I could at the talos, but despite getting loads of lucky sixes, Gary saved all but one of them. My last shots of the game were with my final scoring squad. If the plasma gunner took a wound off the talos and survived I would win the game. If I failed to wound the talos and the plasma gun killed its firer I would lose the game. Otherwise it would be a draw.

I hit the talos and the other shot overheated. My shot wounded the talos...and the overheat killed the marine!

Just for fun I threw the last two Raptors into combat with the talos and destroyed it.

Fantastic game.

Result: Draw

Commendations

• Chaos - Predator (soaking up four turns of dark lance fire)
  
• Dark Eldar - Archon (killed 14 marines)
  

Turning point
That last plasma gun shot. Games don't come any closer.

Learning points

• Alpha level games are surprisingly tactical. Armies lose all their special deployment rules and the mission becomes even more vital.
• Multiple small units work better against the Dark Eldar than single expensive models or units.
• The biker lieutenant is pants against Dark Eldar heroes. He just gets blatted before he has a chance to swing. If I'm going to persevere with him I need to spend a lot more points to toughen him up. Otherwise it would be better to just take a cheap leader and use him against other parts of the Dark Eldar army.

CHAOS SPACE MARINES versus Dark Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 4th edition
Opponent: Gary

I played my Exigators Chaos Space Marines quite competitively last year before and during the Grand Tournament, so I wanted to move away from that and use some of the 'nice' but 'not so powerful' models in my collection. Out went the Obliterators, Daemon Prince, las/plas squads and Havocs and in came the Predator, Dreadnought, Great Unclean One, Raptors and Thousand Sons.

Unfortunately for me Gary is on the hunt for his next tournament army and is trying out his most competitive builds. This week he's experimenting with Dark Eldar, but he also has Eldar, Necrons and Khorne forces to play with.

Here is how our game went.

Mission: Seek and Destroy
Level: Omega
First turn: Dark Eldar

Chaos Space Marines

• Great Unclean One
• Lieutenant on Bike, Lightning Claw
• 9 Thousand Sons
• 6 Raptors, two flamers
• 8 Furies
  
• 6 infiltrating Marines, 2 meltaguns
• 6 infiltrating Marines, 2 plasma guns, Daemonhost
• Predator, twin lascannon, 2 Heavy Bolters
• Dreadnought, twin lascannon

Dark Eldar

• 10 Warriors, 2 Dark Lances
• 10 Warriors, 2 Dark Lances
• 8 Wyches, Raider
• 8 Wyches, Raider
• 8 Wyches, Raider
• Ravager, Night Shield
• Ravager, Night Shield
• Talos
• Warp Beasts
• Archon
• Drachite

Terrain and Deployment
The table had two distinct types of terrain. On my right flank I had some bunkers and ruined buildings surrounded by low walls and barricades. We classified this as area two terrain. On my left there were two large woods which we called area level three, and lots and lots of scattered rock columns which were impassable.

I began with the two infiltrating squads in the woods nearest the middle of the table and the Thousand Sons behind the wood on the far left. The Dark Eldar had the two Warrior squads near the bunker on my right.

The game
The Dark Eldar won first turn and took it so that they would have a chance to slaughter my infiltrators before the Daemons arrived. It worked, as he got second turn charges on both squads in the central wood. The Wych squad and Archon killed them all, only for the Great Unclean One to emerge to kill them. He was unstable, though, and lost four wounds over the next couple of turns. He was also stranded in the middle of the board as the faster Eldar avoided him.

Meanwhile my Thousand Sons took the other wood and became embroiled in a fight with the other two Wych squads and the Warp Beasts. The Dreadnought steamed in and the Dark Eldar were destroyed.

On the right I was pummelled. A dark lance immobilised my Predator which was eventually destroyed on turn five. My biker Lieutenant assaulted a Warrior squad which held and then the Drachite sliced and diced him. The Raptors arrived on turn four but were blasted off the board by a Ravager. I couldn't summon the Furies because all the icons were lost.

Result: Loss

Commendations

• Chaos - Thousand Sons
• Dark Eldar - Ravager

Turning point
The Dark Eldar winning first turn but then getting a large chunk of their reserves late in the game. This gave them the best of both worlds; they had enough to kill my infiltrators and disrupt my daemons but then could deploy against the arrival of my own reserves.

Learning points

• This list was junk. Especially regarding the icons. I didn't realise that marked units couldn't summon 'Undivided' daemons. That meant the Thousand Sons and Great Unclean One couldn't summon the Furies and I had only three icons on the table. Two of those were killed before I had a chance to summon and the other, on the Raptors, didn't show up until turn four and was then killed in one turn.
• Escalation helped the Dark Eldar much more than me. Their movement is just so much better.
• In fact, the Dark Eldar had the beatdown in every department; speed, firepower and assault.