The noble poets and artists amongst the Eldar people take up arms in time of need to save their dying race from the predations of the galaxies. These unassuming servants of the Farseers and Warlock councils are all that stands between the massive numbers of enemies they must needs eliminate in order that their once proud race restore itself to prominence using the obscure and inigmatic future sight that now guides them to that end.
So I was asked to build an army of Guardians, to see if they might prevail!
4 x 10 Guardian Defenders (Bright Lance Platforms, Warlock w/Conceal)
10 Storm Guardians (2 x Fusion guns, Warlock w/Enahance)
Autarch (Power Weapon+Fusion gun+Mandiblaster)
Wave Serpent (Spirit Stones, Star Cannon)
12 Eldar Jet Bikes (4 x Shuriken Cannons, Warlock on JetBike w/Singing Spear+Enhance)
The Avatar
3 War Walkers (2 x Scatter Lasers each)
3 War Walkers (2 x Scatter Lasers each)
Support Weapons Battery (3 D-Cannons)
All of the units are or were Guardians (The Avatar is a Guardian suffused with the shard of their Gawd) or use Guardian pilots/gunners. Thoughts?
For those who enjoy such things, here is a Battle Report., You need not read it to comment of course.
Table Quarters, 5 objectives.
Enemy had:
2 mounted Dire avenger Squads, led by Eldrad and a Farseer.
2 Fire Prisms (holofields, cannons)
Squadron of 2 War Walkers (Missile and scatter laser each)
2 5 man Ranger squads (Pathfinders)
2 Scorpion Squads (with Exarch and claw, Shadowstrike and Stalker)
Large terrain piece in the very center, numerous forests scattered here and there, along with some rock formations. A building near the 36” mark of the long edge marked the only sign that civilization had ever been there.
Enemy deployed in the NE sector relative to me. He deployed with Rangers behind wall sections near the 24 inch line and pretty far back, almost to the short board edge. Fire Prisms were backed way up and ready to fire. The enemies Wave Serpents were just far enough back, about 18 inches so that if I decided to come around either side of the central terrain, he could drop his Avengers and Blade storm me from a safe enough distance. The War Walkers stood behind the building in his zone, ready to blast me as well.
My force deployed. I placed the D-Cannons as far forward near the center rock as I could to take advantage of the blocking terrain and still fire indirect.
My War Walkers were in outflanking reserve.
My Guardian Jet bikes were spread out big time right up to the 24 inch mark, taking up a lot of space behind and around the D-Cannons.
I created three guardian “stripes” west to east, very spread out, with Warlock and Bright Lance leading the way east at the 36” mark of the long board edge, peaking from below the big rock formation in the middle so they could see and fire at his tanks when they got their chance. The The Storm Guardians with their Autarch and Wave Serpent stayed in reserve.
The Avatar Stood within 12” of all the units and behind the rock, well out of sight initially.
Round 1 (I STEAL THE INITIATIVE!!!!):
The Jet-bikes moved 12” North so they could get their Shuriken Cannons around the building that his War Walkers were using for cover, and fired, knocking a Scatter laser off of both of them and shaking them. That left them with just their missile Launchers.
The D-Cannon launched at Eldrad's Wave Serpent, hit it three times and blew it up, forcing the Dire Avengers and Eldrad out with, but none were harmed.
The Guardians moved east so they could see past the rock and fired, blowing off one of the fire Prisms cannons with their collective fire.
My Avatar moved forward so as to maintain the bubble of fearlessness for the bikes, but in so doing had to leave the southernmost Guardian unit out of it. Good luck fellas!
The enemy responded:
Seeing that the Fire Prism could do no more good as a template, it jetted 24 inches and placed its butt against the central rock, so that it could tank shock through the non-feress unit(s) next round or else fire its Shuriken Cannon which is plenty effective against Eldar! The enemy Farseer Wave Serpent came up behind, also hiding behind the rock and using the Prism for cover from the Guardians if they somehow managed to get a line on it. The War Walkers took better cover in the building to wait out their Shaken status. The other prism moved away from the board edge so my outflankers couldn’t get to it and it then fired, hitting two of my Guardian units with its Prism Cannon, killing 2 in two different units including the one that was no longer Fearless. The enemy Rangers did their jobs very well and popped yet more of my Guardians. Due to line of sight the pair of Ranger units had to fire at separate targets, and both killed 3 each, leaving the two Guardian units much smaller than before (half the size). All morale checks were successful, fiortunately.
Eldrad and his unit moved up and dropped an Eldredge storm in the Guardians but it missed.
Eldrad and the Farseer used Fortune on the War Walkers, the Fire Prism and the Wave Serpent that was against the rock to ensure they could survive the coming storm.
Round 2:
One unit of my reserved War Walkers came on the board but came on the left side, where there were no enemies, so I ran them forward, and got a lucky 6.
My D-Cannon lobbed its payload over the rock and hit the Wave Serpent there, immobilizing it despite Fortune.
My Jetbikes moved 12” forward again, making sure not to get close enough if the immobilized Farseer unit jumped out and tried to assault, but that positioning gave the enemy War Walkers cover and they took no damage from my excellent rolls (I hit 10 out of 12 Shuriken Cannon shots, but did nothing! Fortune was a great help to him).
The three Guardian Squads fired into the Fire Prism, and it took all three units throwing their Spears, firing their Lances and charging two of the units to kill the Fire Prism. The Fire Prism, would not go quietly.
The Avatar moved east to re-establish its bubble of fearlessness for as many units as it could but the D-Cannon made that an imperfect effort because of where it was deployed.
The enemy needed things to change.
The first unit of their outflanking Scorpions showed up. They deployed and ran along my right board edge, south of the rangers and into a forest, eager to get to the Guardian lines.
The Farseer and his guided unit jumped out of their immobilized Wave Serpent and moved around the rock, firing at a doomed Jet-bike squad, but the Jet-bike squad failed only 1 save!
The enemy Fire Prism moved and didn’t want to hit Eldrad’s nearby unit, so it fired at the bikes, killing two of them. The enemy War Walkers fired and killed another. The Bike unit failed its leadership and fell back 9 inches. Oops.
Eldrad and his guided unit of enemy Dire Avengers jaunted up and blistered the only full sized guardian unit left, that had charged the Fire prism, then charged my remnants with Doom activated (Eldrad took a wound casting it the first time but got it off the second time). wounds and fearless saves killed all by my Warlock. =(
The enemy Rangers tried their darnedest to clip the other wounded Guardian units (not those that Eldrad attacked) and both Ranger units killed another Guardian in two different units. The Conceal power saved me because once again the Ranger unit rolled well but this time I actually did too.
Round 3:
My second outflanking War Walkers, this time on the right board edge, arrived and decided to go for the remaining fire prism even though it had wisely moved out of charge range, which brought them out at essentially the enemy’s board edge. That would also allow them to contest one of the five objectives.
At this stage in the game, the D-Cannons and Jet-bikes were on an objective, the Guardians were on one and the enemy controlled one with their Rangers.v 2-1.
The D-Cannon fired and missed badly trying to hit the Farseer’s Dire Avengers, but killing just one.
my last Guardian squad came on the board near Eldrad’s unit, but far away enough to the east not to get charged in anticipation of the inevitable outcome of the fight Eldrad was in.
The Storm Guardians in their Wave Serpent came from reserve as well and decided to tank shock 24” into the Scorpion on the right side and a Ranger unit. The Scorpions failed and fell back as did the Ranger unit (missed the other unit) which gave me another objective!!!
The Jet-Bikes had regrouped automatically thanks to the Avatar, and so they moved up again, and fired into the Farseer's Dire Avenger Squad, whiting it down with twin-linked shuriken catapults and their cannons, leaving only 4 plus the Farseer left.
My left hand War Walkers moved East 6” and laced into the enemy War Walkers, this time ending them. My War walkers on the right killed the Fire Prism despite its crazy Holofield.
My two wounded Guardian squads moved away from the melee with the Warlock so that when it died, they wouldn’t be next! They tried to kill the immobilized Wave Serpent but couldn’t hit it. This took them out of the Fearless bubble again even though I moved the Avatar as close as I could.
As predicted, Eldrad's unit of Dire Avengers finished the Warlock and consolidated 2 inches.
Then it was the enemy’s turn to exact vengeance, after their Scorpions and Rangers continued their fallbacks (proximity to the Wave Serpent that tank shocked them).
The Falling back scorpions and Rangers fired as they fell back at my War Walkers, shaking one!
The second unit of Scorpions appeared on the left table edge and made a beeline in the direction of the D-Cannon crew, hoping to silence them next round.
Eldrad split off from his Dire Avengers and the Guided Dire Avengers advanced, shooting one of the two tattered and doomed Guardian Defender squadsUntil only a Warlock and Guardian were left. The Guardian defenders failed morale, forcing them off the board. Two down. Eldrad hit the newly arrived unit with Eldritch Storm hoping for similar results given how relatively bunched up they were but he was disappointed, killing only three and they made their morale check for pinning and for fall back.
The Farseers Guided unit, now considerably smaller, fired its blade Storm off into the Doomed Jet-bikes, but killed only 1 or 2 and then charged vthe bikes, but only managed to tie the combat.
Round 4:
The Jet-bikes won combat on their turn and routed the Dire Avengers, then consolidated back to the objective.
The D-Cannon fired and killed the immobilized Wave Serpent so it couldn’t contest.
The smaller Guardian Defender unit that was left moved and then ran to the objective the immobilized Wave Serpent had been on. The larger unit that had come from reserve shot the enemy Dire Avengers dead.
The War Walkers on the left shot the enemy Scorpions that had outflanked. The Avatar moved to cut off their approach as best he could to the D-Cannon but was too far to charge. His Wailing Doom killed a Scorpion though.
The right hand War Walkers moved up to the objective and fired on the Rangers that weren’t running, killing 2 and their proximity ensuring that both the running Ranger squad and Scorpion unit could never regroup.
Tha Autarch/Storm Guardian Wave Serpent was already on an objective, so it shot the Rangers that weren’t running also, killing them. The Storm Guardians and Autarch never even needed to get out.
By this time, the only thing left was the nearly full unit of Scorpions and Eldrad headed for an Avatar. The other Scorpions and Rangers were falling back with little or no hope of causing any damage.
I held 3 objectives. He held zero.
My opponent conceded the victory.
I love the battle reports. It helps me envision how it's supposed to work. A lot of people just throw up a list, tell you how great it is and then everyone argues about it using vague "a smart opponent wouldn't let you" useless comments. Thanks for the Battle Reports that go with the list. Less theory, more reality!
ReplyDeleteThe new rage is these video battle reports and battle reports with pictures. I prefer writing mine and it may cause some not to have patience enough to read them. I am glad you do. I also write them from a more "roleplaying" point of view, which is popular with some and not others.
ReplyDeleteLet me ask anyone with an interest: How do YOU prefer battle reports? When I have done them with pictures, I won't lie: the opponents reaction to me doing it was largely determined by their chances of wining or losing the game. By video it is a pretty big distraction to the opponent. I'd like to do them but do you think the annoyance factor is more important than a couple pics being added? Do the (usually poorly taken) pics give the battle report any element that's important?
Well, you don't need pics and stuff, but it doesn't hurt. Some people online won't even read one if theres no pics (hey, people just aren't as smart as they used to be so they need pictures!). Pretty soon people will always want video footage too!
ReplyDeleteIf you're gonna' do pics and the like, make sure they dont suck. It ruins the whole thing. I'd rather read a battle report than watch blurry pictures go by.
The Avatar of Khaine is an Exarch, the Young King. They are sacrificed, and their soul feeds Khaine's eternal hunger and imbues his metal form with the power to wage war once more.
ReplyDeleteAvatars have nothing whatsoever to do with Guardians.
Aspect Warriors are just Guardians who have chosen the Path, and yes only Aspect Warriors are fed to Kaele Mensha Khaines Avatar statue. You are correct.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there are no Guardian HQ's. So this point you're making is moot. Completely. Given that there are none, a Guardian that has JUST become an Aspect Warrior is as close as we can get. The Autarchs are Masters of more than one Warrior path, ultimately leading them to the Path of Command. Much farther removed from the Guardian role or the Aspect Warrior Paths than even those sacrificed to the Avatars awakening.
Farseers would be out of the question obviously.
So I think that it can be said that in the absence of Guardian options, who gives rip which HQ you use?