ToS Game 1: Dark Eldar vs Space Wolves

Mission: AnnihilationDeployment: Pitched

Charlie's Space Wolves:

Rune Priest (Living Lightning) Wolf Priest (Bike, Power Fist)

5 Wolf Guard (1 Cyclone Terminator, 1 Bike with Powerfist, 3 with Powerfists) 5 Wolf Scouts (Melta Gun)

9 Grey Hunters (2 Melta) Rhino 9 Grey Hunters (2 Melta) Rhino 10 Grey Hunters (2 Plasma)

9 Swiftclaw Bikers (Sergeant with Powerfist, Multi-Melta Attack Bike)

Nick's Dark Eldar (for reference):

Haemonculi

-3 Trueborn (3 blasters) Venom (+Splinter Cannon, Night Shields) -3 Trueborn (3 blasters) Venom (+Splinter Cannon, Night Shields) -3 Trueborn (3 blasters) Venom (+Splinter Cannon, Night Shields)

-8 Wyches (Hekatrix, Agonizer, Haywire Grenades) Raider (Night Shields, Flickerfields) -5 Wracks (Acothyst) Raider (Flickerfields) -5 Warriors (Blaster) Venom (+Splinter Cannon, Night Shields) -5 Warriors (Blaster) Venom (+Splinter Cannon, Night Shields)

Ravager (Night Shields, Flickerfields) Ravager (Night Shields, Flickerfields) Ravager (Night Shields, Flickerfields)

Well the event begins promptly at 9:30 and I go check to see who I am playing.  Space Wolves, what a surprise!  I have played against Charlie before, and while his list lacked range I knew he had the strategy to back it up.  In our previous meeting he massacred my Dark Eldar in a modified KP mission.  Now with strait KP's and on a grander stage, it was time for me to learn from my mistakes in our previous meeting and get to work.

I didn't take notes for this or any of my games.  What I write up is what happened from memory, so I may miss some things or write things that happened out of order.

Charlie wins the roll to go first and take it.  He sets up 2 Rhinos on his left flank, and a squad of bikes and Grey Hunters on foot in cover on the left center of the board.  I set my Venoms on the back board edge parallel to his bikes and footslogging Grey Hunters, my Ravagers on my right flank, across from his Rhinos, and my Raiders on either side of the Venoms.  I wanted to deploy back so that there was no chance that anything (aside from Living Lightning and the Cyclone) had a chance at getting me in range.

Turn One

I roll to seize... and I do!  Time to get to work.  I unload all of my Venoms into his bikes. I drop 3 and put a wound on the Attack Bike and Priest.  Those bikes might not look scary, but with a squad leader with a powerfist, a Priest with a powerfist and a Wolf Guard with a powerfist, that bike unit backs a REALLY nasty punch if it gets within range.  My Ravagers immobilize and knock off the stormbolter on one of the Rhinos.

Charlie moves the bikes flat out towards me in a now or never move.  He gets the Grey Hunters out of the immobilized Rhino and moves them behind cover.  The other Rhino moves up 12" and pops smoke.  His shooting drops a Trueborn Venom.

Turn Two

With a unit of bikes in my deployment zone, ready to multi-assault anything they can, I know they are target #1.  I circle the Wagons and unload the majority of my army, minus the Ravagers into them.  11 Blasters, 2 Dark Lances, 8 Splinter Cannons and 8 Splinter Rifle's later, they are gone.  Ravager shooting destroys the forward Rhino.

The Grey Hunters in the Rhino unload their meltaguns and bolters into a Wych Raider, exploding it.  His other shooting is ineffective.  His dice are failing him big time.

Turn Three

My Wyches move away from the Grey Hunters that took out their transport.  Meanwhile, the rest of my army fires into the very same Grey Hunter squad, eliminating them.

His Wolf Scouts finally come in, but not wanting to feed me a kill point, he brings them on his board edge.  They get in the immobilized Rhino along with his Living Lightning priest.  He advances more of his Grey Hunters to try to get some more shots off.  He may have stunned or shook a Venom, but was otherwise inefficient.  He is getting some pens and glances, but then is either rolling bad for damage results or I'm shaking them off with flickerfields.

Turns Four through Six

I start to work down the advancing Grey Hunter squad, eventually taking them out.  I also wreck his remaining Rhino.  When it's all tallied up, I have earned over 1,000 Victory Points (know as Skulltaker points in this tournament) and 6 Kill Points.

Charlie gets some shots off and finally downs another Venom.  That brought his KP total to 3 and Skulltaker points to 230.

Charlie was a very fun opponent and made for a great way to get this event started.  I'm looking forward to getting some games in with him either at The Realm or the SoCal GW League.  While the game didn't turn out well for him this time, he is a prime example of how knowing your army list inside out allows you to compete against the top "netlists".