40k Battle Report -1250pts Chaos VS Eldar

Warhammer 40k Battle Report 1250pts Chaos VS Eldar

In this friendly game of 40k we played 1250pts of my Nurgle themed Chaos Space Marines against Blighty's Eldar. The mission was Emperor's Will. Eldar rolled to go first and after setting up opted not to redeploy using Eldrad's divination special rule.

 

Chaos Space Marines

Typhus

x5 Terminators (MoN, x4 Combi-flamers, Gift of Mutation)

x7 Plague Marines (flamer)

x7 Plague Marines (flamer)

x14 Plague Zombies

x5 Havoks (MoN, x4 autocannons)

Helbrute (reaper autocannon + missle launcher)

x4 Chaos Spawn (MoN)

Eldar

Eldrad

x3 Guardian Jetbikes (x1 shuriken cannon, x2 shuriken catapults)

x3 Guardian Jetbikes (x1 shuriken cannon, x2 shuriken catapults)

x3 War Walkers (x6 scatter lasers)

x5 Pathfinders

x4 Dark Reapers (x1 Exarch + Tempest Launcher + Crack Shot)

x10 Guardians (x1 Scatter Laser)

x6 Fire Dragons (x1 Wave Serpent)

Fire Prism

TURN 1 CHAOS

Against all odds, Chaos managed to steal the initiative from the Eldar and took turn one in this match which came as a surprise to all present. I'd decided to bunch up in one corner for the soul reason of wanting to deny the Dark Repears in the far corner much to fire at which paid off in that regard but also meant that my first turn was mostly spent moving and running.

Both squads of Plague Marines moved up full distance with one squad opting to run afterwards while the other took shots at the Guardians. Some hits landed and despite going to ground three guardians died.

Typhus and his Terminator bodyguards all moved up straight ahead since I figured they were going to come under heavy fire from the Pathfinders and potentially the Fire Dragons protecting them by getting into assault ASAP seemed like a sensible idea. Rather than fire their Combi-Flamers they also opted just to run up.

Knowing full well that my opponent is very, very afraid of Chaos Spawn they simply charged towards the Eldar front lines to be big bullet sponges and used a run move to get into the crater for a save.

The Havok squad fired on the Wave Serpent for lack of anything better to aim at and managed to get a single penetration through which resulted in an immobilized result which was very handy since it stopped the Fire Dragons from being able to get across the board quickly.

The turn ended with the Helbrute attempting to finish off the Wave Serpent hoping for an explode result but managing to miss with both his reaper autocannon and missile launcher.

State of the board during Turn One

TURN 1 ELDAR

The first Eldar turn began as all Eldar turns do – with excessive Eldrad related psychic powers as he dished out Guide and Fortune.

Both squads of Jetbikes moved towards the main Chaos lines getting good firing arcs primed while the Fire Dragons departed their immobilized transport.

As expected, everything else with a line of sight to them launched a tirade of shots upon the spawn. Despite both squads of Jetbikes firing along with Pathfinders they only managed to fully kill one spawn and put one wound on another nicely drawing attention away from the approaching Terminator squad.

On the other side of the board the Plague Marine squads suffered a bit more than I had planned for. With 24 or so shots coming at them from the walker squadron I had expected one or two to fall, but it was actually four. The Fire Prism wanted to join in but failed to do anything. 

TURN 2 CHAOS

There was a lot of movement to begin my second turn again. Both Plague Marine squads moved towards the bikes and Guardians, Typhus and his Terminators ploughed forwards, the Chaos Spawn positioned themselves in the face of one Jetbike squadron and the Helbrute wandered towards a nearby building.

Rather than run with most of my army again I tried some more shooting to very little affect. Both squads of Plague Marines fired at the nearby bike squad hoping for First Blood and did nothing. The Havoks tried their hand and was unable to kill any. Undeterred, I had the Terminators fire at them as well (it was that or face 2+ cover save Pathfinders) and they also did nothing. Determined to kill those bikes my Helbrute also shot at them and finally managed to kill a whole one of them purely because the non-blast missile was AP3.

I knew the assault phase was where things would go better for me, or rather hoped. I began to question it when Typhus and his bodyguards failed to charge the Jetbikes that had refused to die to nearly my whole army shooting them. The other bike squad was easily charged by my Chaos Spawn but no side took any casualties or wounds.

TURN 2 ELDAR

Along with the usual Guide and Fortune, Eldrad began turn 2 by casting Doom on the squad of Plague Marines with just three left. With the immobilized tank in the way as well as the combat between the spawn and bikes, the Fire Dragons had no choice but to move and then run around the far side into some cover. On the other end of the table the Fire Prism adjusted its position slightly just to get a better firing lane down the table.

The shooting phase opened with the Dark Reapers and Fire Prism victimizing my poor Plague Marines dealing plenty of wounds but only actually killing one. However, this was soon made up for when the Walkers unleashed hell upon them managing to kill off the remaining three man squad and giving Eldar the First Blood secondary objective. Now safely obtaining that, the bike squad in the open moved flat out towards the far end of the table readying to contest my objective towards the end of the game.

Now aware that the Terminators were getting uncomfortably close, the Pathfinders unloaded everything they had at them and did nothing.

The turn ended with the on going combat in which the spawn killed two out of three bikes but their moral held. It's worth noting that I totally forgot about Fear tests every time I used the spawn in this match.

Meanwhile, the Plague Zombies protect an Objective

 

TURN 3 CHAOS

Though it may not have been the best tactical option to start my Plague Marines where I did, I decided to just take the fire and hope the surviving squad would make it. They marched on towards the Walkers and the Guardian squad with Eldrad attached which sat on his only objective. Elsewhere, my Terminators moved up slightly, as did the Helbrute.

The shooting phase began with the Plague Marines firing on the Guardians. I chose to focus fire at the single Guardian I could see clearly because it was the last surviving one that could use the heavy weapon. He was easily wiped off the board essentially neutering that squad and removing it as a threat. The Helbrute also fired in this general direction and managed to strip a whole 1 HP from a Walker.

Now well within range my plan all along for the combi-flamers on my Terminators came to fruition as they easily roasted the Pathfinders within the ruin, decimating them in an overflow of cover-ignoring wounds.

This turn ended with some painful troop surgery for the Eldar. The Havoks fired into the bike squad that had survived so very much in the previous turn and tried to flat out to safety managing to cut them down. The combat that had been on going also ended with the Chaos Spawn easily chewing on the final bike and then consolidating as far around the immobilized tank as possible.

 

TURN 3 ELDAR

Once again the psychic powers were unleashed but unlike last time I managed to score a deny on the attempt to Doom my marines. Fire Dragons moved around further to put them in perfect view of my Terminators.

As expected, the shooting phase opened with the Fire Dragons unleashing hell on the Terminators and taking out three of them. The Walkers tried to join in, firing 24 guided shots at them but doing nothing. The Dark Reapers were feeling left out and also shot at them and also did nothing.

The Wave Serpent decided to shoot at the Chaos Spawn as they wandered past and managed to do two wounds on the closest.

The turn ended with the Fire Prism using its focused blast on the surviving Plague Marine squad and killed two of them.

 

TURN 4 CHAOS

Things start to go quicker now. My Plague Marines don't like that tank at all and so they moved and ran towards the Guardians instead. The Helbrute was in a nice position partially obscured with a good firing lane so he stayed there. For lack of anything else in range and well aware plenty could still shoot at them, I moved Typhus and his Terminators around towards the serpent. In hindsight I should have probably broken Typhus off from them to do this so the Terminators could try and do something towards the end of the game.

Helbrute managed to finish off the Walker it had glanced in the previous turn at the start of shooting. Havoks fired into the Fire Dragons and managed to take out three of them and that was about all the shooting I could do.

Typhus and his Terminators easily crushed the already crippled Wave Serpent causing it to explode but nothing happened as a result.

The Chaos Spawn charged the surviving Fire Dragons, taking a wound on the way in, but easily managing to wipe them out in a single round of combat and consolidating towards the other end of the board.

TURN 4 ELDAR

After the usual powers (in which Eldrad managed to get a Perils and a wound on himself), the approaching Chaos Spawn were Doomed (did I mention he really doesn't like them?). The Fire Prism moved forwards slightly as well but other than that pretty much everything else stayed where it was.

The Dark Reapers took shots at the spawn and killed one outright. The Walkers joined in and due to sheer number of dice and my poor choice of placement (they had no cover at all) the last two were wiped out. This left his Fire Prism and the Guardians free to fire on the Plague Marines, but neither were able to do anything.

TURN 5 CHAOS

This was a very quick turn for me. My Plague Marines moved a little bit forward. Now aware that the Fire Prism could potentially move up enough to unleash a large blast upon them I moved the zombies a bit to be out of sight for at least one more turn.

The Havoks unleashed on the Fire Prism and managed a single glance. The Helbrute whiffed spectacularly against the Guardians and only killed one. It's at this point I thought that this was potentially my last turn and Typhus and his bodyguard were pretty much useless since they were so far from everything else.

Knowing it was the only hope that they would survive, I declared a charge with my Plague Marines. I lost one on the way in to Overwatch but then in the subsequent combat killed two and took no damage.

TURN 5 ELDAR

A ridiculously fast turn! The Fire Prism went flat out in the hopes that the game goes on to turn 6 and is able to take a shot at the Plague Zombies.

The surviving two Walkers joined in the combat between Eldrad and my marines. The combat carries on and I lose another one.

We checked if the game ends and it did not.

TURN 6 CHAOS

I moved the Helbrute around from its hiding place purely to take a shot at the prism as it flew past. It managed to hit and scored a pen - stunning it for a turn. I did try to charge with the Helbrute afterwards but failed by half an inch.

My Havoks took more shots at the Fire Prism as well but did absolutely nothing to it.

In the combat Eldrad did nothing and neither did the Guardians leaving the Plague Marines to stand and fight. Against all odds my Plague Marine managed to deal a wound to Eldrad when I remembered that he got to hit back (I had just assumed he would die).

TURN 6 ELDAR

The Fire Prism moved behind the zombies but was unable to fire.

The single surviving Guardian, Eldrad and Walkers finally manage to squash the Plague Marines so I no longer contested the objective they held.

We see if the game ends.....and it does not!

TURN 7 CHAOS

The final turn! I moved the Helbrute up with nothing really in mind for it, took some shots at the Walkers to no effect and also failed a charge.

The Havoks also failed to do anything.

TURN 7 ELDAR

The proper final turn of the game! The Fire Prism tried to tank shock the zombies to move them from the objective but they passed their moral test. It then fired at the Havoks since we decided it was physically too close to see the zombies with the cannon and it managed to evaporated one.

The Walkers fired at the Helbrute out of spite and did 2 Hull Points of damage to it.

The game ended at this point with us both holding our own objectives with no one contesting. Eldar had First Blood and I had Line Breaker meaning it was a complete draw.

  

To finish on, here's a close up of the Necron themed objectives we use: