Ewil term is coming......

Heya all, just would like to say that this Fall will be a very busy time for me and I may not have a lot of 40k stuff going on in lieu of this term being the start of a very hard and intense path for a senior Psychology student. I hope that I could post some 40k stuff from time to time though.

OW Tournament results with my Dark Eldar and thoughts

Well, managed to play in the OW tournament today and finished around the middle of the pack (other players tabled more stuff than myself).  After several intense games I have this to say about my list;

1) In its current incarnation, it is quite a balanced list I have. Most of my games were very much on the wire that made some competitive lists sweat a lot. Will need to make it more viable.

2)The Incubi and Reaver combo worked quite well. Those two things always get the lion's share of the shooting arrayed against my forces and for once I can safely say that my Ravagers are surviving quite well thanks to them (well at least until those two things died). Now I am very interested in running even more Reavers than ever before. Maybe 27 of them will be good enough.

3) Wracks are still very subpar in my games. I hate units that do not serve any purposes in my list. But I do admit that a larger squad can play a role in something. What that 'something' is, I got no idea.

4) True enough, it is tough to play against a full horde with my current incarnation of Dark Eldar. But if the army numbers around 50 models or less, my list just dominates. In addition, I am also seeing more and more IG running around these days. Must take this into account when I build my new list.

Based upon what I could see, raiders are only good if you wanna bring some assault units into the fray and the prevalence of infantry blobs and infantry lists only enforces my view that having more Venoms in my list is perhaps the wiser of the routes to go to. In addition, it also occurs to me that if I were to play with one webway portal and take a huge blob of warriors to get out from the portal, it could mitigate some of the weaknesses in my list as well. But of course, this would also mean more playtesting on my part.

Chaos Space Marine Codex

Sweet Mother of Mercy, it is the first hardcover 40k codex! And there's even the Collector's Edition one! I dunno if I should buy them both!

Even more Chaos nonsense!!!!

Damn Chaos has returned with a dark vengeance (no pun intended) and now we get these bunch of things. Chaos Boon table is just filled with madness, as you would need a Daemon prince on the table soon enough on standby just in case your Chaos Lord decides to become a Daemon Prince!

From Faeit 212:

Army special rules, marks, icons and more are here from the White Dwarf. Once again apparently there are lots of people with this White Dwarf, and apparently I get left out of the fun. However there are lots of people posting these things online in photo albums, forums, and other sites, so we get to share in the fun for a short bit until we get our copies on Saturday.

These are via Tompi3 from his online photo album. Some of these duplicate, and some are new to me. Enjoy.



Chaos Boon table (D66 pick 2d6, one is your tens and the other is your ones) 
These all have names but I will leave you to find them out yourselves 
You have to win a challenge to roll on this table 
11-16 - Nothing 
21-22 - Replace model with Chaos Spawn 
23 - +1 Attack 
24 - Eternal Warrior 
25 - +1 Strength 
26 - +1 BS 
31 - +1 Initiative 
32 - Return to full wounds, if unwounded gain +1 Wound 
33 - +1 Toughness 
34 - Shrouded 
35 - Armour Save improves by 1 
36 - Melee weapon has Fleshbane 
41 - Passing a Deny the Witch roll makes enemy Psyker take a Str 6 AP 2 hit 
42 - Re-roll failed armour saves 
43 - Melee attacks are Poisoned 
44 - Crusader 
45 - Hammer of Wrath 
46 - Icy Aura (enemy models in base contact take a Str 4 AP 5 hit at Initiative Step 1) 
51 - Adamantium Will 
52 - A ranged weapon has +1 Strength 
53 - Hatred (Everything!) 
54 - Shred 
55 - Melee attacks have instant death 
56 - +1 WS 
61 - Stubborn 
62 - Fleet 
63 - Feel No Pain 
64 - Roll another d3+1 on this table (re-rolling Spawnhood and Apotheosis) 
65-66 - Replace model with Daemon Prince 

Warlord Traits 
1 - Friendly units within 12" of Warlord have Preferred Enemy (Space Marines) 
2 - Melee weapons belonging to the Warlord and his unit have Soulblaze 
3 - D3 infantry units may infiltrate (could this be new Creed???) 
4 - Warlord and unit have hatred (everything!) 
5 - Warlord causes Fear 
6 - Warlord may re-roll Chaos Boons 

Thanks to Bramgaunt: 
So. Here are Pschic Powers and some special rules. (Note that I translate them myself, so names may differ in the actual Codex...) 

Armor: 
Improvised Armor: 6+ Save 
Powerarmor: 3+ Save 
Terminator Armor: Same as loyalist 
Fleshmetal: 2+ Armor 

wargear: 
Chaos Bike: SM Bike 
Infernal Ammunition: AP3 
Mechadrites: +2 A, includes 1 Meltagun and 1 Flamer 
Plague Grenades: Mark of Nurgle only - Model carries Offensive and Defensive grenades 
Seal of Corruption: 4+ Invulnerable Save 
Jetpack 

Gifts of Chaos 
Aura of Dark Glory: 5+ Invulnerable Save 
Gift of Mutation: Ahead of Deployment, roll once on the "Rewards of Chaos" table 
Battle-familiar: Model gains 2 additional S4 AP- attacks 
Wizard's familiar: Model may reroll failed Psychic tests 
Warpblood: Everyime a model with Warpblood suffers an unsaved wound, the unit that caused this wound suffers 1 S3 AP4 hit. (it appears this is not limited to close combat) 

Palanquin of Nurgle: Model gains +2 Wounds and +1 Attack and gets the Very bulky special rule 
Bloodcrusher of Khorne: Model gains +1 Toughness, +1 Attack and +1 Wound and changes it's unit type to cavallery 
Steed of Slaanesh: Model changes it's unit type to cavallery. It runs +3 inces. Gains accurate senses and Outflank special rule and is granted +1 attack 
Disk of Tzeentch: Model changes it's unit type to Jetbike and gains +1 Attack 

Icons of Chaos 
All Icons grant +1 on Combat Resolution 
Icon of Revenge: Unit is Fearless 
Icon of Flames: Mark of Tzeentch Only: Boltguns, Heavy Boltguns and Bolt Pistols have the Soul Blaze Special Rule 
Icon of Rage: Furious Charge, Unit may reroll Charge Distance 
Icon of Despair: Mark of Nurgle only: Unit causes Fear 
Icon of Ecess: Mark of Slaanesh Only: Unit gains Feel no Pain 

Marks of Chaos 
Mark of Khorne: Berserker, Counter-attack 
Mark of Nurgle: +1 Toughness 
Mark of Tzeentch: Invulnerable Saves improved by 1 
Mark of Slaanesh: +1 Initiative. 

Mark of Nurgle, Mark of Tzeentch, Mark of Slaanesh: If they are given to a psyker, he must chose at least 1 psychic power of the appendant dicipline. 

Demonprince Upgrades 
Demon of Khorne: Hatred (Demons of Slaanesh), Furious Charge 
Demon of Slaanesh: Hatred (Demons of Khorne), Rending, Fleet of Foot, runs +3 inches 
Demon of Nurgle: Hatred (Demons of Tzeentch), Slow and Purposefull, Shrouded 
Demon of Tzeentch: Hatred (Demons of Nurgle), May Reroll all saves of 1 

Psyker: May chose psyonic powers from pyromancy, biomancy or telepathy. If he's a demon of Nurgle, Slaanesh or Tzeentch he must chose at least 1 psycic power from the appendant dicipline. 


Vehicle Upgrades: 
Destroyer-Blades: Causes D6 S5 AP - hits while performing a Tank shock. If a Unit choses Death or Glory it suffers 2D6 hits instead 
Warpflames: All ranged weapons have the Soul Blaze special rule 
Whipping Tentacles: Every model suffers -1 attack for each whipping tentacle it has base contact to. (very strange wording here...) 
Twin linked Boltgun: Duh. 
Siege shield: Vehicle automatically passes dangerous terrain tests 
Demon Engine: BS 3. Ignores Crew stunned and Crew shaken on rolls of 2+. When a unit embarks, roll a D6. On a roll of 1 you remove 1 random model as a casulty, and the vehicle regains 1 Hullpoint. 
Magma-cutters. If a Maulerfiend with Magmacutters hits with at least one of it's attacks, it generates 1 extra attack. If it hits with all of it's attacks, it generates 2 additional attacks. These attacks have Initiative 1, S8, AP1 and armorbane. 
Sonic Blaster: Enemy units within 6" may not perform defensive fire. 

Special Rules 
Obliterator Weapons: Kyborgs may chose one of the following weapons: Assault Canon, Heavy Flamer, 
lasCannon, Multimelta, Twinlinked Flamer, TL Plasmagun or TL meltagun. All obliterators must chose the same weapon. They may not chose the same weapon twice in a row. 
Mutilator Weapons: Pick one of the following at the start of any combat phase the mutilator is in close combat: Pair of: Lightning Claws, Chain Fists, Power Swords, Power Mauls. All Mutilators must pick the same weapon, and may not chose the same weapon two combat steps in a row. 

Might of the Soulforge: Once per game, at the beginning of a shooting or close combat phase, a model may unleash the might of the Soulforge to reroll all failed to wound/armor penetration rolls. It suffers a glancing hit at a roll of 1 at the end of the phase. 

Master of Machines: A Warpsmith may try to repair a friendly vehicle or curse an enemy vehicle. 
repair: Needs to be in b2b or within the vehicle. On a roll of 5+ (4+ with mechadrites) he restores a hullpoint or removes one weapon destroyed/immobilized result. 
Curse: Shooting attack: 18" range. If it hits, the enemy vehicles weapons have the 'gets hot' special rule. 


Psychic powers 
Discipline of Tzeentch 
Primary Power: Flames of Tzeentch Witchfire, Focus 1 
24", S5, AP-, Blast, Inferno (Inferno: Each unsaved wound causes an aditional D3 S3 AP - Hits) 

1-2: Gift of Mutation: Blessing: Focus 1: 
Friendly Character within 2" suffers a S4 AP-hit and ma roll on the "Rewards of Chaos" table 

3-4: Bolt of Corruption: Beam, Focus1 
18", S8, AP1, Detonation (If the target is an enemy vehicle and suffers a "Vehicle explodes" result the radius of the blast is 2d6 inches instead of D6 inches) 

5-6: Odem of Chaos Witchfire, Focus 2 
Template, S1, AP2, Poison (4+), corrosive. (corrosive: Vehicles hit suffer a glancing hit on a roll of 4+) 

Discipline of Nurgle 
Primary Power: Rot of Nurgle Witchfire, Focus 1 
6", Assault D6+1, Poison (4+), S2 AP 5. No effect on models of Nurgle (yes, model of Nurgle is the actual wording.) 

1-2: Weapon Virus: Curse, Fokus 1 
Range 24". All ranged weapons in the enemy unit have the "gets hot" special rule 

3-4: Plagued Present Curse, Fokus 1 
Range 48". Enemy unit rolls a D3: 
1: Corpsefliesinfestation: -1 attack, shrouded 
2: muscular atrophy: -1 Strength, may not run 
3: Liquifying Fever: -1 Strength and -1 toughness 

5-6: Plagued Wind Fokus 2, Witchfier 
12", S1, AP2, Assault 1, Blast (5"), Poison (4+) 


Discipline of Slaanesh 
Primary Power: Overload Witchfire, warp charge 1 
24" S4 AP4 Assault 4, concussive, Blind, Pinning 

1-2: hysterical frenzy Blessing, Warp Charge 1 
Pick non-vehicle unit within 12" and roll a D3 
1: +1 Initiative 
2: +1 Strength 
3: +1 Attack 

3-4: Symphony of Pain Curse, Warp Charge 1 
1 Enemy unit within 24 inches gets -1 BS and -1 WS. All ranged weapons directed at this unit get +1 Strength. 

5-6: extatic wince Witchfire, warp charge 2 
24": S: special, AP - Assault 1. 
Every nonvehicle model in the enemy unit suffers 1 hit with its own strength. 

Here are some additional pics....... from http://astropate.blogspot.com/2012/09/kit-di-modifica-per-gli-space-marine.html

Chaos leaked stuff part 2

The floodgates are breached now.....
Among this second wave of leakies I am most fond of are the raptors/warp talons. The rest are kinda overdone.
As for future adversarial thoughts, anything big with a gatling cannon is not cool in my books. Will have to see what this meanie function on the table.

Chaos Models Leaked pics and first thoughts

Heya all and the morning is abuzz with the new pics of the Chaos stuff. Only words I have to say......Dear Holy Terra!

First things first, the large plastic kita that encompasses the Chaos Flyer and two.....I don't even know what to call these things. Surprisingly for the Helldrake, the 'Dragon' concept that we have heard in the rumours was pulled out very well somehow. I still have my doubts, but nonetheless it is a very cool kit to have. As for the two things called the Forgefiend and Maulerfiend,  that's some huge ass things. But these kits remind me too much of Tyranids and for a Hobbyist that is willing to put in the extra effort the Helldrake can be converted into a Harpy.

Next item on the leakies, the Warp Talons a.k.a evil Vanguards. I actually like how they use the old Heresy-era jump packs to show their veterancy and I will say, I like the predatory look of these models. Lightning Claws and Talons? Damn. However, the main thing about them would be; are they loaded with other weapon alternatives than Lightning Claws? This would also serve as a good basis for a Jump Pack Chaos Lord if one wants dynamic poses for their Lord. Night Lord players would love this.

Last but not least, perhaps the one I am most fond of among all the leaked items; The Warpsmith. My word this model is just really cool model. It has that commanding pose, and it looks very sinister. Hope that its role in the Chaos list would be viable enough for its inclusion into other Chaos Lists.

Listbuilding for 6th with Reavers, Incubi and Haemonculi in the mix

Heya all, and welcome back!

With me finally getting my reavers primed for killing, I have been testing them out a lot in almost every game whenever the points and slot allocation would allow me to use at least a 6-man squad. So far as proven with my playtesting of a squad of three of them in 5th around a year or so ago, they proved to be a thorn at my opponent's side with their heat lances, bladevanes and flanking capabilities.

But what I am really enjoying about them in 6th edition is their role as a 'confusion-fu' unit. Thanks to the changes in the turboboosting phase in 6th edition, now I can actually do a 'bait and switch' with my reavers and take the best opportunities for my reavers to cause mayhem. The reaction to the Reaver's turboboosting phase always surprises my opponent as their 36" move is monstrously fast and now they would have to worry about an unit that is behind their lines in an angle that they did not expect. If I can bladevane something while I am turboboosting, even more power to me. Harassment on so many levels indeed.

In addition with the way things are going about, I truly believe that a squad of 6 is nice, but a squad of 9 is definitely better. Not only will I have additional heat lances, resilience, and attacks via bladevanes but I will also force a mental image upon my opponents whenever I move a squad of those units around the board. It is hard to ignore a swarm of hornets flying around, as I would say. If I can get a second squad into the mix, it would truly play to my strengths as well as I enjoy forcing my opponents to be engaged upon multiple levels whenever I play. That and my experiences that one does not need so many blasterborns (3 squads is excessive in my opinion) in an army only enforces my opinion that a 2 units of Blasterborns to 2 units of Reaver Jetbikers is the right ratio for me.

With that my army is quite set in killing units that I want killed. But of course, there are always unit that are either tough and or lucky enough to survive my army's killing potential. To truly support the entire army, there is a need for a large meaty unit as well that can help, in Malaysian Lingo, 'to clean shop' from all the damage that the Reavers, Ravagers, Raiders and Dark Eldar flyers.

Incubi are showing themselves to be viable in my army as I have stated before, as the inclusion of those 2+ blobs and also those infantry blobs are a nightmare to be tarpitted against and I need something to clear the field with. So far the flurry of Klaives actually managed to do some nasty damage upon my opponents in my playtesting, and I am actually contemplating getting a Klaivex with Onslaught into the mix to increase the damage output.

Interestingly enough with the inclusion of Reaver Jetbikers and Incubi into my list, an old friend in the Dark Eldar codex is returning into my list; Haemonculi. They allow me to unlock Wracks as troops which will help me in the cheap-troops department and also they could give pain tokens to either my Incubi and/or Reaver Jetbikers for added durability.

However as with every listbuilding process, there are some things that are just not as good in the general gameplan of the list (especially with FAQs thrown out) and will be relegated to benchwarmers;

1) The Beastmasters are a nice unit and their strengths are apparent to me, but the speed of my list means that they are often just camping upon my own objectives to prevent people from coming in close, instead of the true offensive rushdown play that I really enjoy; overwhelming opponents and force costly mistakes by using fast, confusing setups or counterattacking impatient opponents that are forced to a defensive play for a prolonged period of time.

2)Wyches: Haywire grenades are good, tarpitting is good, but.........they are not as viable as they were once before. Their lack of survivability against explosions caused by their own grenades even with FNP, and the inclusion of huge blobs of infantry and 2+ had taken their toll. It is sad to see an unit that had served me to retire, but nonetheless it is an honour serving with you wyches.

3)Baron: You are nice, you are nice....but you do not truly help either. The Baron is an unit that I find as a fun unit rather than a competitive unit, and in that capacity of being a fun unit he is quite nice. Will take him out once in a while for fun games.

4) Hellions: Too cumbersome with the setups and all. But I will take you out for fun games once in a while.

4)Duke Sliscus: As compared with the previous units, he's a viable unit in my gameplan. He is my go-to guy in the benchwarmer seat. Only gist I had with him is his restrictive setup option.


With these in mind, I will be trying to incorporate all of these things into my list for the upcoming 1850 pts tournament at my LGS and see if these things are truly as advertised during the playtesting phase.

Playtesting even more and discovered a few fun things.

Heya all, playtested even more with my Dark Eldar in a few games and I found out a few interesting things.

1) Playtesting against Jump Pack BA: Reavers work soo much better than I last played them, and I enjoyed the prospect of almost getting a pain token out from a bladevane attack after 4 Venoms almost killed off the unit. Unfortunately for me, my opponent managed to make all the armour saves needed for his jump pack BA assault marines. But when he charged into it, he essentially messed up his entire assault marines as my dudes are chopping their way through them in a very slow but confident manner. His Power Fist is the only thing preventing him from running off the table edge. I can see this actually affecting infantry blobs or some of those pesky heavy weapons squads.

2) Random small game: (Incubi + Archon) x (5 Terminators + Captain) = Fun times. My opponent thought that it was broken that he is facing off against lots of Str 4 Ap2 +  a few Str 3 Ap2 Insta-death attacks at his face. Afterwards the lone survivor (after surviving the assault against terminators and at least 2 rounds of shooting from a tactical squad) with two tokens charged the tactical squad that is bullying the Incubi squad and chopped them into pieces and forced them to run.

3) Relentless apparently helps in overwatching.

And on an unrelated note;

4) Was trolling by playing Marines today, and my deepstriking skills are still very good and won a game easily. :P

Incubi...I choose you!

Incubi are always an unit that I have enjoyed using whenever I get the chance to, but at the time it is quite an investment to play with their closest competitor at the time (wyches). But due to the nerfs stacked against wyches, they are now relegated to a sad existence. But what nerfed the wyches did not nerf the Incubi. With the best infantry armour in the dark eldar list they are now able to withstand overwatch attempts, and with their klaives they have the role of killing terminators by a bucketful. They shine a lot more in this edition thanks to the boosts that they get.

Madness you say but remember that we are now able to get allies and wih a farseer in tow we could give rerolls to hit, 4+ invul saves and/or forcing opponents to reroll and/or those successful invul saves. If you do not like the randomness of the general psychic powers a doomseer would be sufficient enough to make every wound count. Last but not least, defensive grenades from the archon would give them cover saves as they charge into cover, alongside the general idea of letting strike at initiative.

Last but not least they actually fit a particular role that I want and need in my army; epic distraction. Despite my misgivings about wyches in 5th, I picked them in that edition as they are one of the most feared unit in 40k and people overestimated them as killers rather than their true purpose of tarpitting. Now with wyches losing that reputation, I need a fear factor that would make my opponents pay attention to them instead. Incubi are now the new black and I would be taking a squad to see if people truly overreact. If they do and perform admirably, I may even use two archons and two incubi squads to truly screw people over.

It is true that they are rather deathstar-ish in nature but with the new meta being developed even as this article is written, there is a rising trend of 2+ armour dudes and lots of infantry blobs that are a nightmare to tarpit in. Incubi solves all of that.

Will have to test, but I am certain that they can help me in the future.

Mann's Sanctum - 1850 pts Dark Eldar Vs Imperial Guard

Lord Commisar Scared Mann looks upon the battlefield in this forsaken sector of the citycalled Vilograd. Despite the onslaught of the Eldar offensive taxing the already overstretched Imperial defensive line, but the Inquisiton has ‘requested’ that he send his men of the Cadian 3569th into the sector to scour the city for strategic locations against the Eldar pirates. The Inquisitor has stated that the location known as Ph-879000 is the most vital of the locations of the city due to its position upon a cross-street right next to an open field, thus providing the first line of defense against the Dark Eldar raiders. 

However amongst the Imperial Guard, they know of this location as the Devil’s Field for this is where the Eldar pirates would hunt their prey and run them out into the field to wisp away those that are foolish enough to come to the location. But alas in the name of the God-Emperor, it is a duty he must do. He loves his men like how he would love his son, and his men had known him to be a stern but fair man. When he gave the mission briefing to his men, he was surprised that some of his men voiced out their opinions, caring about his safety more than their own. A truly touching sight indeed for the grizzled commissar for he had never received such a heartwarming response.

Alas they are now out in the Devil’s Field, seeing the bloated dead among the ruins and broken roads. His men are familiar with urban warfare and they proceed to take careful steps in the ruins, scouting for any sign of a strategic push…..

Pregame and deployment.

Well, it has been a while since I faced an Imperial Guard player, and being able to play with Steve is a true pleasure for me as I actually need to face against something that could outmatch me in raw attrition of firepower and durability (That sadomasochistic part of me never change whenever I want a good match) and also I had a bloodlust of wanting to wreak havoc on lots of models that are non-space marine.

Steve being a boss!

His list consists of these few things

Lord Commisar with Meltabombs, Carapece armour, Power Weapon

Infantry platoon with;

1 x Lascannon Heavy Weapons team

2 x Autocannons Heavy Weapons team

1 x Missile Launchers Heavy Weapons team

2 x Infantry squad with grenade launcher

1 x Infantry squad with plasma gun

1 x Platoon command squad with 2 sniper rifles

1x  Grenade Launcher special team

Veteran Squad with 1 meltagun, 2 plasmagunners and 1 heavy bolter in Chimera

Veteran Squad with 1 meltagun, 2 plasmagunners and 1 heavy bolter in Chimera  

1 Leman Russ

1 Leman Russ

1 Leman Russ Executioner

My list consist of;

HQ

1. Archon

Venom Blade

Haywire Grenade

Combat Drugs

Shadowfield

2. Baron Sathonyx

Custom Skyboard

Hellglaive

Splinter Pistol

Phantasm Grenade Launcher

Shadowfield

total pts: 105 pts

Elites

1. Kabalite Trueborn Squad

4 x Kabalite Trueborn with Blaster

Venom with 2 Splinter Cannon

2. Kabalite Trueborn Squad

4 x Kabalite Trueborn with Blaster

Venom with 2 Splinter Cannon

Troops

1. Kabalite Warriors Squad

4 x Kabalite Warriors

1 x Kabalite with Blaster

Venom with 2 Splinter Cannon

2. Kabalite Warriors Squad

4 x Kabalite Warriors

1 x Kabalite with Blaster

Venom with 2 Splinter Cannon

3. Kabalite Warriors Squad

4 x Kabalite Warriors

1 x Kabalite with Blaster

Raider with Nighshields

4. Kabalite Warriors Squad

4 x Kabalite Warriors

1 x Kabalite with Blaster

Raider with Nighshields

5. Wyches

8 x Wyches with Haywire Grenades

1 x Hekatrix with Venom Blade and Haywire grenades

Raider with Nighshields

Fast Attack

1. Beastmaster Pack

2 x Beasmaters

1 x Beastmaster with Venom Blade

5 x Khymeara

4 x Razorwing Flock

Heavy Support

1. Ravager

3 x Dark Lances

Nightshields

2.  Razorwing Fighter

4 x Monoscythe Missiles

2 x Dark lances

1 x Twin-linked Splinter rifle

Flickerfield

3. Razorwing Fighter

4 x Monoscythe Missiles

2 x Dark lances

1 x Twin-linked Splinter rifle

Flickerfield

I wanted to try out what happens when I take two flyers instead. It was interesting to know that the list that I wanted to use for the day is the 'right' pick against IG barring another Wych squad (Just take the second Wych squad down and I get this 1850 pts list). Interesting. 

We rolled and we got ‘The Scouring’ for our mission of the day which I personally call the mission that requires the most maneuvering and greater planning, and the deployment is Vanguard strike, which is perhaps the worst deployment zone ever second only to Dawn of War in 5 th.

The table is shown below.

He managed to get the Command trait that allowed him to move through cover, which is a boon for him while I get the useless trait of having acute sense on my outflanking things. Useful if I had something like War Walkers, but useless because I do not have any form of outflanking nonsense.

He deployed and made himself at home with the large amount of ruins, while I have to cram almost everything in the only ruin that is blocking LOS. It was not apparent here, but later in the game (about turn 4) Steve realized that some of his men are not deployed on the table as they are covered by a person’s bag which made him forgot a squad of 10 guys. As a good sport, I let them come in as reserves (It will haunt me later, but it is a friendly game after all and I just want to have a good time).

As we flipped the markers and see what are the victory points on the objectives here is what we got (note that this are all in relation to my point of view);

Bottom left a.k.a Dark Eldar Deployment Zone : 4 VP

Top left: 2 VP

Top Middle: 3 Vp

Bottom Middle: 2 VP

Top Right a.k.a IG deployment zone: 3 VP

Bottom Right: 1 VP

So with that I attempted to seize the initative to press on my advantage, but alas I failed big time.

Turn 1

Immediately a shell was fired from one of the Leman Russes, and as Lord Commisar Mann turned to see what is the Leman Russs shooting at, several flying corpses of Eldar Pirates. The pirates had come for them. “MEN, FIGHT FOR GLORY AND DEATH!!!!!!” The commissar is greeted by a great cheer and the Cadians are now waging war. The thunder of the shells from the Leman Russes could be heard, but then one of them was blown apart by the retaliatory fire by the pirates. Soon enough the ear-piercing cries of men dying a painful death could be heard. This will indeed be a violent battle…..

Imperial Guard

The Imperial Guard do not even bother to move much save for a few elements and proceed to shoot the bejesus of whatever they see which is essentially some elements of the Beastmaster squad and the Trueborn Venom. Suffice to say, the Venom is blasted to hell, and the beastmaster took some damage but are still in the fight thanks to the Baron’s Stealth and the ruin.

Dark Eldar

With that, I realized that this will be a true challenge indeed and I proceed to move to some strategic locations and try to negate the cover saves of the Leman Russes whenever possible and also get some of those heavy weapons team down. The Beastmaster proceed to sit on the objectives as marching onwards equals to a deathwish for now. My shooting went well as I managed to destroy the Leman Russ and killed off one of the Autocannon heavy weapons team. I also managed to wound one of the missile launcher heavy weapons team for my next volley. I proceed to turboboost the Wych raider closer.

Turn 2
Lord Commisar Mann soon received information that his location is now drawing some of the Eldar pirates in larger numbers. His men are the droplets of blood, and the Eldar pirates are the sharks that are now congregating upon the scent of his men. His men would have to move out to prevent themselves from being outflanked by the superior speed of the Eldar pirates while pressing on their advantage of firepower. Several of the xenos vehicle went up in flames and are crashing from the firepower of the Hammer of the Emperor. But alas it is not to last, as the screaming jets of the Eldar aircraft blasted in the air, followed soon by the chaotic cacophany of missiles whistling towards their targets and detonating, causing much havoc. 

 As he turned back, he was greeted by the sight of mutilated men, some still very much alive and will have to bear the agonies of a painful death. The Xenos weaponry is such that there is not even a single crater from the missile impacting upon its target. Techno-sorcery such as these are always the stuff of nightmares for men who are unfamiliar with them. Indeed some of his men are now running out in the open trying to gun down the Eldar boat-like skimmers but the dark sorceries of the Xenos envelops the vehicles in a shield of darkness causing his men to fire blindly into the darkness made manifest.

Imperial Guard
In his movement phase he moved his Chimera out from the alley and also some of his Guardsmen out to try and gun down my vehicles, while other elements of his army are now attempting to move to close the gap in the defenses that I have made with my opening volley. In the shooting phase he managed to gun down my Ravager (d'oh!) and immobilized one of my Raiders and also one of my Warrior Venoms.

Dark Eldar
In my turn, my Razorwings came in and with that I planned for my big offensive to come into being.  My Wych raider moved 6" and disembarked my wyches and the Archon for some beat-face moments. In the shooting phase one of the Razorwing attempted to shoot the Leman Russ but did nothing. As for the other one, it managed to wipe out the largest blob away which makes me happy. My shooting also managed to kill off the missile launchers heavy weapons team and also the Lascannon heavy weapons team. In the assault phase, I managed to pull my charge towards the last heavy weapons team and wipe it out.

Turn 3
Before long the situation has gone from bad to worse, and the Eldar are pushing even further into his defenses and he knew that they will have to fight even harder. If given a choice he would have called for a retreat, but two things prevented him from doing so; the Inquisition and the Eldar pirate's speed. His men are more important to him than his own life, but his men would not leave him as well. 

"Lord Commisar, the situation is getting from bad to worse and we need to retreat!" The young commander is a capable commander and indeed have deduced the same thing that the Commisar had thought about as well.
"No Riez, we must hold. If we run they will shoot us in the back and take us prisoners....and being captured by them is as bad as being caught by the Chaos cultists. Our men must hold." Mann's voice is calm and yet resolute. 
"Yes sir." Riez gave a crisp reply and command the rest of his men to hold their ground. Mann's only hope that there is a miracle somehow that would come their way.

Imperial Guard

As you can from this pic, this is essentially what is left at the point of the Imperial Guard at the time (barring the reserve squad that I will let Steve enter from reserves later). With his remaining men he proceed to try and shoot at as much vehicles that he could see, and he managed to gun down the other Warrior Venom.He also managed to strip two hull points from the Wych Raider, and killed a single Wych.

Dark Eldar
Seeing that victory is in my grasp I moved a few guys out from the craters and immobilized vehicles and moved them to the closest objectives while also moving my Beastmasters out to go in for the kill. Both my flayers went off the table edge and are back in reserves.

In the shooting phase, I tried to kill the Leman Russ and the Chimeras but I failed in both respects. But at least there is one thing that would make me happy; the death of the Leman Russ via haywire. And I know it will kill it too.

But fate decided to be a bitch to me and alas they failed (even with that reroll from their fleet)

Turn 4
"Sir! We have located what looked like their leader sir!" Riez's response gave the opening that the Lord Commisar needed. If he could decapitate the head, the body will surely fail. 
"Riez, give the command to kill that leader and make sure that it remains that way!!!!"
"Yes sir!" Before long a Chimera drove past them and as soon as it is in position unleashed its firepower towards the target. 

Mann wished that his gambit would work, and the cheer of his men confirmed his greatest hopes. Suddenly the flow of the battle have changed, and the other Eldar arr visibly shaken by this turn of events. This is the time, Mann said to himself.

"Alright men!!!!! Show these Xenos what we are made of!!!!!"

Imperial Guard
Well, that derpy charge is all that is needed for Steve to take advantage of and proceed to murder my Archon to death (damn you Str 6 miltilasers!!!!) but the majority of the wyches are unharmed (WTF moment for me). It is about here that Steve found his remaining men hidden behind a bag and he facepalmed at the fact. He was about to say that they are dead, but I said that they could come in as reserves for the next turn. So with that a bunch of 10 guys are now on my list of stuff to kill once they come out. Little did I know how they would have impacted the game.

Dark Eldar
My flyers are back in the game from reserves and my bunch of Beastmasters are now marching out to kill the stragglers that I have left out there intentionally so that I could leapfrog to the Top middle objective.

In the shooting phase I managed to kill another blob of infantry and also managed to kill one of the Chimeras. In the assault phase I charged the stragglers with the Beastmasters and killed so much. I consolidated towards the objective. I also charged the Leman Russ and killed it with Haywire.

Turn 5
"Are you guys in need of help?" Mann's combead sprang to life and he recognized it as that of Sergeant Ortiz, one of the platoon's most difficult sergeants to deal with. But his voice now sounded like the singing of angels to Mann's ears.
"About time! Move onto our right flank and flush them out!!!!"

Mann started to experience an euphoric feeling, one that says that he and his men are getting out of this alive. This filled him with such righteous fury that he began singing hymns of victory.

Imperial Guard
We rolled for nightfight and nightfighting is not activated.

His reserves came in and it was then I realized that I am in trouble. Those guns can now contest the objective on the top left, or even capture it. My worst fears are realized when he shot them and they managed to kill enough till only one was left. That lone Warrior ran like a little bitch after that.....Shitbiscuits for me.

He attempted to shoot down my flyers with his Veterans but did not managed to do so. His other stuff attempted to shoot at the last remaining raider, but failed to do anything.

Dark Eldar
Well, shitbiscuits. That was an unexpected drawback but one I could handle if I take the center objective which I managed to do so with the Beastmasters. With that I tried to take down both the Leman Russ and the Chimera, but I failed to so. I attempted to charge the chimera with the wyches, but a number of them died via overwatch and only one grenade went through.

At this point of the game, I have 10 VP to his 2VP and I will win by a large margin by this point.


With that we rolled to see if there is a turn 6 and to my horror.......there is a turn 6. Ok....this is when I really know when this are going downhill for me.

Turn 6
"Hurry we must make haste!!!" Mann shouted to his men and they are now running to take advantage of the unique string of events coming their way. Before long he could see that the flow is truly going in their favour.  He saw a Skimmer flying pass and he ordered his men to fire at the Xenos. He then threw his melta bomb and to his surprise his meltabomb detonated and caused the vehicle to be wrecked. As the passengers of the downed skimmer crawled out, he proceed to charge at them. His men followed him, unsure of what the Commisar is doing. But at least they are surviving better when they are with the commissar as so far his actions are falling into place as if the Emperor is there guiding his righteous fury.

Imperial Guard
Seeing that he could potentially tie this somehow, he went ahead and ran like there is no tomorrow and try to capture as much objectives as he could. In Assault phase his Command platoon and the Lord Commisar threw a meltabomb at my Raider and caused it to explode, killing the wyches along with it.

His Leman Russ and Leman Russ Executioner killed the Wych raider and also killed the Beastmasters including the Baron. Ouch.

Dark Eldar
I tried a last gambit of running my Kabalite Warriors to the central objective and try to capture it while I try to shoot the rest of his other stuff. My Razorwings managed to make the ten-man squad to buckle and make a run for it.

If we end the game now, it will be a tie. But alas the Dice gods favour Steve and gave him another turn to do stuff.

Turn 7
Like a whirling typhoon of rage the Commisar chased the retreating Eldar and shouting insults at them. His men are now energized by this sudden bloodlust and they too found the courage within themselves to roar and gun down their enemies.

"DIE YOU MOTHERFRAKKERS DIE!!!!!!!!!!!" Lord Commisar opened fire and managed to gun down one of them with his bolt pistol. As if on cue the others fired and before long, the Eldar are vapourized by the resounding fusillade of firepower. As the commissar climbed up on the hill, his men stopped to see him triumphantly roared his challenge.

"FLY BACK TO YOUR MOTHER'S WOMB YOU XENOS MOTHERFRAKKERS!!!!LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I, LORD COMMISSAR SCARED MANN IS YOUR BANE!!!!" 

The image of a triumphant Lord Commissar is made even more triumphant by the Eldar flyers flying away from him away from the battlezone into the sunset, as if they understood that messing with the Lord Commisar is unwise.

Imperial Guard
Even though none of us have anything else to shoot per se, but we still have to roll for nightfighting and we got it.....

He attempts to shoot down my flyer with the Chimera but failed to do so. He also moved his Platoon Command towards the Top Middle objective and managed to capture it.

Dark Eldar
I could not do anything but to fly away.

With that the game is over.

Post-game and Afterthoughts

In the end of the day, only seventeen men out of seventy-three men of the Cadian survived the onslaught of the Dark Eldar forces against the position that is forevermore known as Mann's Sanctum. The position was reinforced after several days and was resupplied with heavy bolters, autocannons and mortars bringing the Cadian 3569th to a 25-man understrength platoon. In accordance of the Inqusitorial Mandate; 'No one step back' Lord Commissar Man was ordered to fortify the building and defend it to the last bullet and last man. 

Supplies were brought in via the trench or by courier animals, defying the Dark Eldar air raids and techno-sorcery. Nevertheless, food and especially water was scarce and the hellish conditions of the battlefield forced the soldiers to be on their guard as the platoon was subjected to harrasing fire and audio playbacks of screaming people every night in order to try and break their resistance.The Dark Eldar attacked the building several times a day, but every time they are pushed back. It is even reported that Mann's men had to use lulls in the fighting to run out and kick over the heaped piles of Xenos corpses so that they could not be used as cover by the next round of attackers. Eventually by the 5th month, the position is relieved by the arrival of the Iron Fist chapter.

Mann's Sanctum became a symbol of incredibly stubborn and dogged resistance of the Imperial forces during the Battle of Vilograd and was rebuild after the conflict as a shrine for the fallen in the battle. Lord Commissar Mann was awarded the title of Hero of the Imperium for his actions of single-handedly holding off the flank of the defenders for the decisive victory of the Battle of Vilograd, and in extension the second phase of the Luskia Reclamation Conflict.

Results
Dark Eldar: 6 VP
Imperial Guard: 9 VP

Imperial Guard Victory!

Well, that game was epic as hell if I have to say so myself. In this game I believe that I have made a few vital mistakes;

1) Hide those Beastmasters well - During the first turn, I could have hid them much better and those casualties cost me dearly later on in the game when I have to use the unit much more aggressively to hold the top middle objective

2) Should have put in the extra effort to kill the vehicles - I was so concentrated on killing the infantry elements that I forgotten that the killer of my lists are the vehicles. They did the most damage and I should have focused my attention to them more.

3)Bad Maneuvering of the Flyers - In the last few turns I overextended my flyer's movement to the point that I am unable to do much with them. They also have a large footprint that causes problems when they are in close proximity with each other.

Of course there are the 'Derp' moments in the form of the failed charge by my Wyches and also the Random Game Length.

As for my opponent, Steve did the best he could in the position and triumphed out of it as a result of a few 'DERP' moments and profited from it. It is quite an impressive feat to go from only 2 VP in the game to a respectable 9 VP in three turns. His plan at the late phases of the game is true to the tenet of 'Play to the Mission' as he used the Secondary objectives to his advantage and took my apparent victory from my hands. Kudos to you Steve, and I would love to play against you again.

P.S: And yeah, the name of the Lord Commisar is indeed Scared Mann according to Steve. :-P