Net Epic Evolution Battle Report: Eldar v Chaos 7,000 points
Introduction:
Since last week's Marines v Eldar battle report seemed to go down a storm - a massive thanks to the hundreds of you who read it (and those who watched the video on YouTube)! - it seemed like a no-brainer to run another! Once again, I'll be using my Net Epic Evolution rules to run the game. As an experiment, I've decided to allow units on Charge orders to fire - provided they are not engaging enemies in Close Combat - with a -1 penalty to hit. For anyone not in the know, the Evolution rules are my own variant of the Net Epic rules which, in turn, are a fan version of 2nd Edition Epic/Space Marine rules by Games Workshop. So without further ado, let's get on with the action!
For those of you who are keen for more, be sure to click on the Labels tab on this blog and then select Epic 40K - there's a 10 battle Orks v Squats campaign in the archives for you to enjoy! The Epic War! rules which I developed to run such a campaign can also be found here!
I've made a highlights video which you can watch below, but read on if you want the full story!
Scenario:
The Eldar have identified a major incursion by Chaos forces - predominantly Khorne and Tzeentch armies - on the green world of Enrathea and sent their own army to cleanse and eradicate the corruption.
Both sides have 7,000 point armies and are aiming to score 60 Victory Points (VPs) to win the battle. Victory Points are won by breaking enemy formations or seizing any of the 8 objectives. Each objective is worth 5 VPs.
Army Lists:
Once again I'm using Net Epic costings which are better balanced than 2nd edition costings.
Eldar:
Avatar: Free
Defender Warhost: 850
Jetbike Host: 550
Spirit Host: 500
Falcon Host: 450
2 x Cobra: 500
Tempest Squadron: 550
Nightwing Squadron: 300
2 x Dark Reapers 500
2 x Howling Banshees: 300
2 x Striking Scorpions: 300
2 x Swooping Hawks: 300
Wave Serpent Squadron: 150
Fire Prism Cannon: 50
Exarchs: 400
Warlock Titan w/2 Psychic Lance + Las-cannon & Missile Launcher Wings): 650
Revenant Scout Titans: 500
Harlequins: 150
Total: 7,000 points
Chaos:
Primarch Angron: 300
Lord of Battles (w/Doomburner and Hellblade): 490
World Eaters Century: 600
2 x Rhinos: 100
4 x Demonic Engines: 1200
Cannon of Khorne: 200
2 x Juggernaughts: 300
Mark of Khorne (on Khorne Berserkers): 125
Banelord Titan: 700
Magnus the Red: 300
Thousand Sons Century: 600
Silver Towers of Tzeentch: 350
Doomwing Squadron: 250
Disc Rider Squad: 200
3 x Rhinos: 150
2 x Chaos Land Raiders: 500
Daemon Horde: 400
Hellblades: 250
Total 7,015 points
Chaos Cards: Chaos receive 8 Chaos cards - 3 for the Lord of Battles, 2 for the Tzeentch daemon engines (Silver Towers and Doomwings), 1 for each Primarch and 1 for the Daemon Horde. With both the World Eaters and Thousand Sons Centuries on the board, Chaos also gain the Rewards for Khorne and Tzeentch.
Battlefield Overview & Set Up:
To ensure consistency through the report, when the left and right flanks are referred to, these relate to the battle as seen from the Chaos side of the board (as shown in the overview picture below).
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| Overview, Objectives and Deployment |
The Battle Plan:
Eldar: The Wind Rider Host is hoping to overrun and outmanoeuvre the relatively sparse Chaos forces on the left flank. The Defender Host should be able to hold Objectives 1 & 2 without too much opposition. The Avatar, Exarchs and Harlequins (the latter inside the Wave Serpents) are tasked with capturing Objective 3 although that will be a tougher prospect with Automatons and Angron expected to challenge that objective.
The Tempests, Revenants and Spirit Host will battle for dominance through the centre of the battlefield, but they expect a brutal war of attrition as many Daemon Engines and Chaos Land Raiders expected to pour into this area.
The most desperate battles are expected to be on the right flank where squads of Howling Banshees and Striking Scorpions expect to face off against some of Chaos' most formidable close combat specialists - but they will have some serious support from the Cobra superheavy tanks and a Warlock Titan!
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| Eldar: left flank |
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| Eldar: centre |
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| Eldar: right flank |
Chaos: Opposite the Striking Scorpion and Howling Banshees are the Cauldrons of Blood which will try to thin out any opposition looking for refuge in the woods before the powerful Trolls, Minotaurs, Khorne Juggernaughts and the Khorne Berserkers launch their assault! The aim is to secure all three objectives in the woods and maybe, just maybe, capture the fourth in the nearby town. Most of the daemon engines along with the Banelord Titan and Lord of Battles expect heavy opposition through the centre of the battlefield, but expect to overcome the Eldar forces. The Silver Towers of Tzeentch hope to offer some cover to the advancing forces and to slow attrition from incoming Eldar pop-up attacks. The biggest concern is the left flank where the hope is that Angron can cling on to the objective with the assistance of Automatons.
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| Chaos: right flank |
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| Chaos: centre |
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| Chaos: left flank |
Turn 1:
Units charge into cover all around the board. On the right flank, Minotaurs, Trolls, Juggernaughts and Berserkers take up position in the woods. The Berserkers bide their time to mount an assault on Objective 8 next turn... In the faraway woods, 2 squadrons of Howling Banshees and one of Striking Scorpions have firm control of their objective.
Through the centre of the battlefield, Thousand Sons trade fire with Wraithguard and Wraithlords, but neither side succeeds in inflicting casualties.
There is more caution on the left flank as Jetbikes take cover behind the hill. Wave Serpents drop off Harlequins to seize Objective 2 in the woods. Angron may have something to say about whether the Harlequins can retain it next turn!
Silver Towers of Tzeentch push forward, but their weapons prove ineffective. A Prism Cannon pops up and destroys one! So much for their field to cover the daemon engines!
Automatons pour out of Rhinos and tear up the hill opposite which is swarming with Guardians...
...and thin their ranks!
A squadron of Tower of Skulls unleashes a heavy hail of fire, but only succeed in picking off a single Wraithguard squad.
But are only able to destroy one Wraithlord!
A squadron of Guardians enter buildings around Objective 2. Cannon of Khorne roll on to the hill targeting the Guardians and the last threads the needle between the woods to target the distant Wraithlords!
The first cannon misfires and is destroyed!
The second rolls 10 BPs on the dice, needing only 2+ to hit - but contrives to only destroy one Wraithlord of the two!
The last cannon rolls 2 BPs, a miserable 6 to hit!
It scatters behind the building, landing over a squad of Guardians and a Falcon Grav Tank...
...but a roll of double 6 sees the Guardian and Falcon hit - and wiped off the battlefield!
...but, despite the amount of firepower unleashed from both Marines and vehicles, only 2 Vypers are picked off!
Exarchs swoop into position and fire upon the freshly-deployed World Eaters!
...killing three squads!
Doomwings glide across the battlefield to douse Jetbikes and Guardians with their fiery payload!
Destroying five Jet Bikes and a squad of Guardians!
The Eldar Warlock places his Eldritch storm upon the hill. The Lord of Battles charges forward but is unable to inflict any damage on anything!
Blood Reapers open fire as they charge...
...and destroy two Wraithlords and one squad of Dark Reapers!
The Warlock Titan charges forward and fires both of its Psychic Lance at the Lord of Battles while the wing weapons target Thousand Sons Marines and Land Raiders in the crater - but it misses everything!
As the Banelord enters the battlefield, it finds its targets restricted by the Warlock's Eldritch Storm. It targets Dark Reapers in the buildings...
...but only manages to kill one squad!
...but only succeeds in picking off a single squad of Marines! Only one shot hits the Lord of Battles - and again it misses the head and everything else on the location chart!
A Cobra pops up and fires its D-Cannon - it scatters but hits a building and a Blood Reaper!
The building soaks up the hit - but the Blood Reaper is destroyed!
With the Cauldron of Blood daemon engines forced to move, Falcons advance forward and open fire as their Striking Scorpions pour out of the skimmers and head into the woods!
A Disc-Rider is the only casualty from the Falcon attack.
...and successfully destroy them!
Nightwings swing into attack the Hellblades with their Shuriken...
...as well as Doomwings with Lascannon and Thousands Sons with missiles!
The Thousand Sons survive the missile attack, but a Doomwing is shot down by the Lascannon and the Hellblades are decimated by the Shuriken!
With all of Chaos having activated, the Eldar activate again, this time with their Tempests...
They pop up and hit the Lord of Battles with everything they've got!
...and they blow its head clean off - the Lord of Battles is destroyed!
A Cobra is last to activate. It targets a group of Daemon Engines...
...but its shot scatters, hitting the nearby building instead!
And destroying it!
Somewhat remarkably - given that both sides have plenty of close combat specialists in their ranks - there is no Close Combat, so this was the last action of Turn 1!
End Phase:
Overview: The Eldar have snapped up a whopping 6 Objectives, while Chaos have only taken 2. However, that should change in turn 2...
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| Battlefield Overview |
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| Overview with Objectives |
Note that the Eldar Vyper Jetbikes claimed Objective #1 despite the Doomwings being closer. This is because fliers cannot claim objectives.
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| Left flank |
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| Centre |
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| Right Flank |
Eldar Casualties:
Note that the Swooping Hawks are not casualties: they have yet to enter the battle!
Though the Wind Rider Host did not break, it is on the brink!
Wave Serpents: 2 VPs
Turn 1 Total (awarded to Chaos): 2 VPs
Chaos Casualties:
Lord of Battles: 5 VPs
Hellblades: 3 VPs
Silver Towers of Tzeentch: 4 VPs
Turn 1 Total (awarded to Eldar): 12 VPs
Eldar: 42 VPs
Chaos: 12 VPs
Turn 2:
Eldar win Initiative and a Cobra pops up to attack the Cauldron of Blood daemon engines which are a threat to their nearby infantry!
...and destroy two of the engines!
Magnus the Red moves out from behind the building and unleashes his deadly Beam of Power!
The shot tears through the Cobra like a knife through butter - obliterating it!
Exarchs activate, opening fire upon the remaining Doomwings and Thousand Sons Land Raiders!
The Land Raiders' armour stands up to the attack - but both of the remaining Doomwings are destroyed!
Thousand Sons Marines activate and fire upon one Revenant - while casting their Chaos reward - a Vortex - upon the other! The vortex deviates, but not far enough for the Revenant to escape it!
The Chaos Marines destroy the wing on the first Revenant, while the other takes 5 hits from the vortex! It rips the Titan apart, causing it to explode spectacularly! Then, in the next instant, the flames are extinguished as the Titan is sucked into the vortex and erased from the battlefield!
Though it is dangerous to do so, the Revenant takes cover behind the Vortex - and fires its Pulse Laser, stripping three Void Shields from the Banelord!
Land Raiders activate and shoot at the nearby Nightwings!
Two are destroyed!
Sensing its time may be nearing an end, the Banelord activates and strides forward menacingly! It launches two volleys of its Havoc missiles...
...and wipes out four Guardians...
...and two Wraithlords and a Wraithguard squad!
It targets nearby Dark Reapers with its Bloodletter Battle head and Doomfist...
...killing most of them!
Unfortunately, the Titan's remaining weapons fail to hit the Revenant and the Warlock Titan - and the Banelord's activation ends.
A Cobra pops up and tries to finish off the Banelord with its D-Cannon, but it scatters and fails to hit anything!
It does manage to pick off a nearby Falcon Grav Tank.
His entourage almost wiped out, the Warlock heads for a building and tries to take out the Banelord with a Psychic Scream - but fails!
World Eaters Marines activate and fire at the Vyper Jetbikes...
Destroying one!
Falcons pop up and fire at the Blood Reapers and Tower of Skulls - but miss every shot! The Blood Reapers gratefully move into the nearby ruins...
and return fire at their attackers!
But only succeed in killing the last squad of Dark Reapers in the nearest building!
The Warlock Titan closes in on the Banelord to finish it off with the Psychic Lances!
...while the Missile Launchers target Disc Riders!
...killing two of the Riders! However, the Lascannon miss the nearby Tower of Skulls - and worse still, the Psychic Lances miss the Banelord!
Cannon of Khorne are next to activate...
But all they seem good for is destroying themselves! The one that does manage to fire only rolls 2 Barrage Points and misses its targets!
The Vypers activate and fire at the Chaos Marines and Deathdealers...
Destroying one of each!
The Cauldron of Blood moves forward and sprays the Striking Scorpions with boiling daemonic blood...
...consigning three squads of Striking Scorpions to a horrific fate!
The Fire Prism destroys a Tower of Skulls on the hill! The other pushes forward and shoots at both the Fire Prism and a Falcon Grav Tank...
...and take down another!
Dark Reapers fire at the Banelord, but once again it soaks up the ordnance directed at it!
World Eaters target the Warlock in the building beside the Dark Reapers...
...and hit him several times, tearing up his floor with missile fire! The Warlock is no more!
Another Falcon pops up...
...and destroys the last Tower of Skulls!
Juggernaughts jump the last of the Striking Scorpions while another squadron of Falcons pop up to fire at the Blood Reapers in the ruins...
Destroying one!
Thousand Sons open fire on more Guardians...
...and pick off another 2 squads! The Defender Warhost is on the brink of breaking!
...and the Marines also manage to pick off another Dark Reaper, clearing the objective!
Guardians in the buildings target the Deathdealer and squad of World Eater Marines!
The Marines are cut down and somewhat improbably, the Deathdealer is destroyed too!
The last Deathdealer fires at the two Vyper Jetbikes...
The Wraithlord and Wraithguard fire at the Thousand Sons Marines, killing one.
...killing one squad - but it is enough to break the Warhost!
Another squad of Juggernaughts push into the woods, securing the objective!
Tempests pop up. Their task is to deliver the killing blow to the Banelord...
But once again, its armour soaks up the hits! Unbelievable!
Minotaurs secure another objective...
Jetbikes jump the last Cannon of Khorne...
While Rhinos charge in to steal an objective from the remaining Jetbikes - but Swooping Hawks deep strike to ambush them!
The last of the Falcons pop up and fire at the Land Raiders...
Destroying two!
The Jetbikes easily destroy the Cannon of Khorne.
The Rhinos manage to destroy a few Jetbikes, but suffer the wrath of the Swooping Hawks!
Angron kills one squad of Harlequins, but cannot take the objective!
Rhinos destroy a Falcon Grav Tank!
Juggernaughts clash with Striking Scorpions and Howling Banshees...
Both sides suffer casualties!
End Phase:
The Banelord regenerates 3 Void Shields! With the exception of its Havoc Missiles being destroyed, it has survived Turn 2 well!
At the end of Turn 2, both sides have 4 objectives each - Eldar hold objectives #1 - #3 and objective #7 while Chaos control objectives #4 - #6 and objective #8.
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| Battlefield Overview |
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| Overview with Objectives |
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| Left flank |
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| Centre |
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| Right flank |
Eldar Casualties:
Defender Host: 9 VPs
Jetbike Host: 6 VPs
Spirit Host: 5 VPs
2 x Dark Reapers: 6 VPs
Nightwing Squadron: 3 VPs
Revenant Titan: 3 VPs
Cobra Tank: 3 VPs
Striking Scorpions: 2 VPs
Prism Cannon: 1 VPs
Turn 1 Total (awarded to Chaos): 2 VPs
Turn 2 Total (awarded to Chaos): 38 VPs
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| Eldar Casualties |
Chaos Casualties:
4 x Demonic Engines: 12 VPs
Doomwing: Squadron: 3 VPs
Land Raider Squadron: 3 VPs
Cannon of Khorne: 2 VPs
Disc Riders: 2 VPs
Juggernaughts: 2 VPs
2 x Rhinos: 2 VPs
Turn 1 Total (awarded to Eldar): 12 VPs
Turn 2 Total (awarded to Eldar): 26 VPs
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| Chaos Casualties |
End of Turn 2:
Eldar: 58 VPs
Chaos: 60 VPs
Blood for the Blood God - Victory to Chaos!
Closing Reflections:
While there had been a fair amount of attrition, it seemed that the battle was destined for another turn which almost certainly would have resulted in a draw - so the realisation that Chaos had managed to win with the slightest of margins came as a shock! The fact that the Banelord in particular managed to survive Turn 2 was something of a miracle as it survived attacks from a Revenant Titan, a Cobra, the Tempest squadron, and, most shockingly, the Warlock Titan, so the Eldar can feel hard done by. Had the Warlock not pushed forward to attempt to take the Banelord down with a Psychic Scream, the game would have continued another turn.
Had the game it done so, it would likely have seen the Banelord finally brought to its knees and Angron overwhelmed, but other than that, it's hard to see where the Eldar could have scored more points as both the World Eaters and Thousand Sons would have required to have suffered heavy losses for either to break. From the Chaos side of things, they would have hoped to win Initiative for the Banelord to engage the Warlord in Close Combat - had the Banelord once again survived the Psychic Lance, it may have destroyed the Warlord, but this is a huge maybe! The remaining Revenant Titan was exposed and the Falcon Host was only a couple of vehicles away from breaking, but the real place they could expect to make significant inroads would have been on the right flank where the Berserkers were poised to call upon their Chaos reward to storm the wood where Howling Banshees and Striking Scorpions were protecting an objective. The Blood Rage of Khorne reward would have allowed the Berserkers to move triple speed and add 1D6 to their CAF, making engaging the Scorpions a 50/50 proposition - except that the Uncontrollable Flatulence would have halved the Striking Scorpions' CAF! Howling Banshees would have suffered the same issue if they attempted to gang up on the Berserkers, but even if they sat on the objective, the Berserkers would have had Blood Rage to press on for a fresh Close Combat attack and Warp Frenzy at their disposal on top of the reward and Flatulence to deal with them (the effects of the Chaos cards all lasted for the duration of the Close Combat segment so would have carried on to the next attack)! It would have been utter carnage!
One small note is that I have a lot more varied terrain than was on display in this battle, but I deliberately used the old buildings and simple terrain to evoke the feel of the White Dwarf battle reports which I thought some people might appreciate. The next board will be very different!
I was concerned that the experiment with allowing units to fire on Charge Orders with a -1 on their rolls to hit would unbalance the game, but they worked fine; even though units were making use of the attacks, most were dropping from rolls of 5+ to hit to 6+ and barely any shots from charging units inflicted any casualties on the opposition. As a result, I will carry this experiment on to the next battle...which will see the Orks and Imperial Guard going head to head!
Watch this space for more soon!
