Last Sunday I managed to get in a game versus my mate Ross and his Ulthwe Eldar. You can find his blog
HERE. I took some photos of the game with the intention of doing up a battle report, which I have done, but the following should be stated first:
Yes I know the lighting is bad, I will bring down more lights next time.
Yes my camera work is shaky, I will try using a timer next time, and failing that, fork out the cash for a tripod.
Battle Chronicler prefers a North/South engagement, not the East/West layout that I used which causes labels to switch constantly.
I will endeavour to get better starting photos for the map in the future.
With that out of the way, this batrep has been done using Battle Chronicler which I hope to use again in the future. It took me a while to create the units and learn how to use it, but now that I've created my army, it will take me less time in the future. The actual diagrams took less than an hour after I''d created the unit and map etc.
Armylists:
Witch Hunters - Sister of St Joseph
Eldar - Ulthwe
Deployment
Ross won the roll for choosing sides and opted for me to choose, I picked the side with the pig pen for some extra cover for my guardsmen. I deployed with my armoured elements split into two groups backed up by an Exorcist each. The Guard platoon deployed centrally to provide covering fire and to old the objectives located near my deployment area. The Canoness and Seraphim deployed behind my North flank Rhinos to help push through onto the objectives there. Ross deployed his War Walkers and Dark Reapers opposite my armoured forces on the Northern flank. His Wave Serpents with the Storm Guardians, Dire Avengers and Farseer deployed centrally hoping to swing to either flank. The Wraithlord, Wraithguard and Defender Guardians deployed on the Southern flank.
Ross' Ulthwe deployed.
Turn 1
Ross failed to steal the initiative, so I began my first turn by rolling forward with my Rhinos, popping their smoke launchers as they went to reduce the impact of incoming fire (I will need to create some sort of smoke token for BC). The Seraphim and Canoness jumped up behind the Rhinos, heading towards the Dark Reapers and War Walkers. The Guard squad to the North pushed up into the first floor of the building, and the Exorcists manoeuvred for optimal firing positions. I started by firing both Exorcists into each of Ross' Wave Serpents and in a wave of luck, wrecked the Storm Guardians' ride, pinning the unit, and exploding the other containing the Dire Avengers and Farseer (I also need some crater markers). The guard unit then ran to the top of their building for a good firing position, and the Seraphim ran for some extra cover. My Guardsmen failed to hit the Wraithlord with their missile launchers.
With an abysmal start, Ross went to work on trying to bring the game back in his favour, pushing hard up on the Southern flank whilst the War Walkers ducked out from behind their building ready to fire on the oncoming transports. Between the Wraithguard and Wraithlord, he managed to immobilise and stun one Rhino on the Southern flank, but the Walkers only managed to stop my Immolator from shooting next turn. The Dark Reapers shot at the Seraphim but they were saved by Spirit of the Martyr.
An Exorcist lines up the Wraithlord.
Turn 2
With Ross' forces now committed on the Southern flank, and looking at what I had to face them, I decided to pull back my forces to give my other units more time to whittle them down. The second BSS squad's rhino pulled back behind the building whilst the first squad got out of their damaged vehicle and made a run for the safety of the building. On the Northern flank I pushed up aggressively and disembarked my units ready to fire whilst the Seraphim jumped up behind ready to counter attack. Between Exorcist two and my Guard platoon I was able to take out the Wraithlord threatening the Southern flank, whilst Exorcist 1 and my Celestian squad managed to either shake or weapon destroy all of the War Walkers leaving them defenceless for the next turn. BSS 3 opened up on the Dark Reapers knocking them out with bolters and flamers.
The Sister Squad removes the Dark Reapers from the equation in a storm of fire and flame.
Ross was really under the pressure now, but kept on coming. His Wraithguard moved up ready to assault the immobilised Rhino supported by the Dire Avengers and Defender Guardians. His War Walkers also moved up along the with the Storm Guardians on the Northern Flank. Shoot mainly consisted of trying to whittle down BSS 1 and fleeting with the Storm Guardians. The Wraithguard charged the Rhino blowing it up meanwhile the War Walkers and Storm Guardians charged BSS 3 in a hopes to break it and remove a valuable scoring unit from that flank, however the sisters held.
The charge of the Ulthwe.
Turn 3
In my turn I shot up the Wraithguard some more, hoping to reduce them with the Exorcists, but a timely fortune and their high toughness kept them strong. On the Northern flank things went a little better with the Seraphim and Celestians charging the War Walkers bringing them down in a hail of Eviscerator attacks and causing the Storm Guardians to flee.
Sisters push the Guardians back.
With not many options left Ross charged the Wraithguard into BSS 2 hoping to break them, but in a score of abysmal dice rolls neither side managed to score any wounds. We decided to call it there as it was getting a little late and with the Wraithguard not likely to go anywhere any time soon, not much was likely to change.
Conclusion
I realised early on that I had made a mistake in my deployment, as my goal was to push through with the attack on the Northern flank, whilst using the Southern flank as a I diversion/optimistic attack designed to hold up the enemy or take a lightly defended objective. However I only had minimal scoring units on the Northern flank and had the game not gone so well for me, I may not have had enough bodies left alive to claim the objectives. As it was, BSS 3 was whittled down to only four members, and came close to being swept away. Ross failed to use cover enough in his deployment which led to the loss of his mobility early on which really crippled him. We discussed this after the game along with a few tweaks for the list, mainly to drop the Dark Reapers for either a unit of Jetbikes or some Rangers for taking down MC's.
Please feel free to leave any feedback on the format of the report or any suggestions on improvements for next time.
Eltnot.
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