DAEMONHUNTERS versus Eldar

Game: Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition
Opponent: Gary
Mission: Patrol
1st turn: Daemonhunters
Points: 1000

Daemonhunters

• Inquisitor Lord Severus, Master-crafted Daemonhammer, Bolt pistol, Holocaust, Icon of the Just, Consecrated Scrolls, 2xAcolytes, Power Armour, Bolt Pistols and Close Combat Weapons, 1xAcolyte with power weapon and las pistol, Combat Servitor, Rhino with Smoke Launchers
• Inquisitor Kurven, Psycannon, Power Armour, Gun Servitor, Plasma Cannon, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Imperial Guard Veteran, Plasma Gun, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Targeter, 2 x Sage, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol, Mystic, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
• 2 Daemonhosts
• Squad Matoso, 8 Stormtroopers, 2xFlamers, Veteran Sergeant with Bolt Pistol, Power Weapon, Rhino, Smoke launchers and Extra Armour
• Squad Godirtho, 7 Stormtroopers, 2 plasma guns
• Squad Seralvo, 7 Stormtroopers, 2 meltaguns
  

Eldar

• Farseer with mindwar and singing spear, Warlock retinue with witchblades
• 5 Scouts
• 8 Dire Avengers including exarch with power weapon
• Wraithlord with starcannon
• Falcon with scatterlaser and holo-field
• 5 Fire dragons including exarch with burning fist
• 5 Striking scorpions including exarch with powerfist

Background
The store Battle Bunker is now fully operational so we managed to grab a six foot table straight off the bat. Excellent!

I had brought a 1500 point army including Imperial Guard allies, hoping to get a larger game in, while Gary had his brand new 1000 point Eldar army. Because we had the table, and it was the first outing for the Eldar, we decided to play each other. This left me with a bit of a headache as I had to lose 500 points from my army. The obvious thing to do was to drop the Imperial Guard. Now I had just over 100 points to add to the Daemonhunters to get them up to 1000 points and luckily I had brought some extra Stormtroopers. So I bought Squad Seralvo and padded out Squad Godirtho.

Then Gary put his army on the table replete with Wraithlord, Falcon and 'mini' Seer council.

I was screwed.

Although Inquisitor Lord Severus is good in close combat, even he would baulk at taking a Wraithlord on in close combat. The only other way for me to kill it would be to hose him down with plasma weapons, but somehow I didn't think he would stand around in rapid fire range with a big target around his neck.

The Falcon is mega tough with the holo-field. This bit of wargear forces you to roll two dice on the damage tables and take the lowest. Combined with my lack of armour-busting ability it would run riot in our game.

Terrain and deployment
Despite my reservations we got on with the game. I knew mission would be vital for me to stand a decent chance and we rolled a patrol. Pretty good I thought, although I would have loved to have still had my Guard for this mission. With only one troop choice on the table I could have started with 25 men including 2 heavy weapons, and 4 special weapons. Additionally I would have had 3 Sentinels on the board too. Ho, hum.

I started with Squad Godirtho and Gary deployed his Scouts.

The game
I advanced the Stormtroopers into a large ruin on my right. Gary surprised me by running his scouts straight at the Stormtroopers and in a flurry of high fleet of foot and difficult terrain rolls he assaulted my men. In the combat that followed I went first because of the terrain and I had a veteran sergeant. Nevertheless I took more casualties and fell back!

Meanwhile my army had begun to arrive. Squad Matoso and Squad Seralvo came on to my left and Inquisitor Kurven deployed on my right. Only the Farseer and Dire Avengers came on for the Eldar.

Squad Godirtho rallied and charged back into the scouts. The combat was more even now and went on long enough for the Farseer unit to join the fight. The Stormtroopers were wiped out, as were the scouts and the Farseer swept forward. By this stage most of our units had come on from reserve. The most noticeable exception was the Striking Scorpions who didn't arrive until turn 5 and didn't play any part in the game.

One Daemonhost was assaulted by the Wraithlord and killed, but he held out for a couple of turns, effectively keeping the behemoth out of the game. The other Daemonhost landed near the Dire Avengers and charged into combat, holding them up for several turns. Inquisitor Kurven blasted and Squad Matoso flamed the Farseer and his Warlocks and killed everything but the Farseer who lost two wounds. I have never seen such poor saving throws.

In the centre, Inquisitor Lord Severus had his rhino shot out from under him by the Fire Dragons who had been dropped off by the Falcon. The Dragons then charged in and killed an Acolyte and the combat servitor before they were dispatched.

Our two commanders were now facing off against each other. The Farseer cast mind war, which caused no wounds, and then assaulted but was beaten down by the Inquisitor's Daemonhammer. That left Severus free to charge the Dire Avengers still tied up with the Daemonhost. The squad was wiped out in short order. All that was left was to tot up the victory points.

There were barely any Eldar units left on the table but the ones that were there were worth a lot of points. I had only taken a wound off the Wraithlord, and despite getting a lot of rolls on the damage tables I just couldn't take the Falcon down. Most of the time it was stunned or prevented from shooting so it had little effect on the game but it still counted for victory points. Also, the Scorpions were untouched and worth full points. So a game I clearly had by the scruff of the neck ended up much closer than I had expected.

However, many of my units were still intact and I finished over 100 points in the lead.

Result: Win

Learning points

• My army was not suited to taking on such a tough opponent. This is a longstanding problem with the Radical list and recently I had overcome it by adding an assassin or some Imperial Guard. Fortunately the mission helped to level things somewhat, what with my two units in rhinos and especially with Gary's poor reserve rolls. Additionally he actually has one of the slowest Eldar armies I've ever seen. The Striking Scorpions and Wraithlord can only move 6 inches per turn and the scouts lose their shooting ability if they move. I'd imagine Gary will shake the list up quite a bit by the next time I fight him.
• The 6 foot table really makes a difference. I could spread my units out so that enemy assaulters could be shot up on the way in, and it also allowed me to deep strike one of the Daemonhosts on a flank. Me likey.
• Lord Severus is nasty in his current incarnation. Every unit he went up against he obliterated in a turn, what with his Daemonhammer attacks and especially the Holocaust power. He costs a lot of points but is probably worth it.