ToS Game 4: Dark Eldar vs Dark Angels (Deathwing)
Mission: AnnihilationDeployment: Spearhead
Pat's Dark Angels:
Belial
5 Terminators (4 TH/SS, 1 Apothecary, 1 Assault Cannon & Chainfist) 5 Terminators (5 TH/SS, CML) 5 Terminators (5 TH/SS, CML) 5 Terminators (5 TH/SS, CML) 5 Terminators (5 TH/SS, CML)
1 Land Speeder Typhoon (TML, Multi-Melta) 1 Land Speeder Typhoon (TML, Multi-Melta)
Nick's Dark Eldar:
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)
Of all the armies I wanted to see in a KP mission, a Deathwing army that gave up 8 to my 18 was one of the few I really didn't want to see. I immediately knew I would have to go for total elimination of my opponents forces, as those missiles would make short work of my vehicles, and put me in a KP nightmare. My opponent was a pleasant young man from the same Philadelphia gaming group as my last opponent. He wins the roll to go first, but opts to give me the first turn.
I know that no matter where I set up, my opponent will have range so I deploy as close to the center as I can. My opponent deploys four Deathwing squads as close to the center as he can, putting him 24" away from me. Belial's squad is coming in through Deathwing assault, and the two Land Speeders are coming in through regular reserves.
Turn 1:
I shift my forces around and focus all of my fire on one Terminator squad. I only manage to kill 4 and the Cyclone is still standing.
My opponent strikes back. Belial's squad comes down and wrecks a Wrack Raider. More missiles down a Warrior Venom. I lose two Warriors from the explosion, and they proceed to run off the board. More shooting downs a Trueborn Venom, but they stay put. At this point, I'm already down 4 KP to 0.
Turn 2:
Well, it's now or never. I move my Wyches up and out to get an assault off on a Terminator squad. I take some shots to take out the lone Cyclone from the previous round of shooting. More shooting takes out 2 members of Belials squad. The Wyches prove their worth in close combat and take out 2 while losing 1 in return.
My opponent gets one of his Land Speeders on. In a fortunate turn of events, none of my vehicles get destroyed (thank you Flickerfields). He does get Belial and friends into combat with some of mine and shake a Venom and stun a Raider.
Turn 3:
I continue to unload on Belials squad with lances, and another squad (without FNP) with the Venoms. My Wyches hold strong and continue to tie up the Terminators.
He gets his second speeder on. His shooting downs a Ravager, along with a Trueborn Venom. He is still locked in combat with the Wyches Raider and takes that out too.
Turn 4:
Things are really starting to thin out. I take out Belial and the rest of his squad, and the rest of another Deathwing squad. The Wyches finally finish off the squad they were engaged in and consolidate into some cover. I'm left with all of my Trueborn, a Warrior squad and their Venom and 2 Ravagers. My opponent has a full Deathwing squad and 2 Land Speeders, but is way up on kill points.
My opponent stuns a Ravager and gets a weapon destroyed on another. His Deathwing squad sends a missile into the Wyches the charges them. I lose combat 2-1 but stick around.
Turn 5:
I run my Trueborn up because they're out of range of everything. My Warrior Venom moves up 24" because it can't do anything either. My Ravager takes 2 shots at a Land Speeder, but doesn't do anything. My Wyches lose 2-1 again and proceed to run away and die.
My opponent takes out a Ravager and shakes the other, essentially sealing my fate.
Turn 6:
I have no way to shoot the Land Speeders, so I unload my Venom into the last 3 Terminators, downing one. My opponent unloads but fails to do anything substantial. The game ends on turn 6.
When it was all said and done, I had ~1100 Skulltaker points to my opponent ~900, but lost on kill points 5-12. Just a rough army to face in a kill point mission. My opponent finished the tournament 3-0-2 and took home Best Dark Angels. Congrats Pat.
Of all the games I played, this was the only one where I looked back and said "well, what if I did this instead"... If I had used my Wyches to get a first turn charge off against a squad of Terminators, I would have prevented an extra 2 missiles from shooting at me during that devastating turn 1. Would it have made a huge difference? Probably not, but it might have resulted in an extra vehicle being alive and an extra Terminator or two being dead. Oh well, I'll take a moral victory in knowing I killed more than my opponent, and even my opponent said nobody had killed that many Terminators throughout the whole tournament.
At this point I'm 2-1-1. Fortunate enough for me, the two top Dark Eldar players lost, putting them at 2-1-1 and 3-1 respectively. However, another Dark Eldar player that started off 0-1 has crept back to be 2-1-1 after beating Necrons in the KP mission. It's going to be a wild finish.