Greg

Thanks for another AAR, an interesting one at that. Good to see then list taken for a spin at 5000.
Ginger raised some good points they were along the lines of my initial thoughts also.
It was good to see the wraithblades make there presence felt with vampires, what did you guys think about how they fared? They seemed pretty quiet after their initial engagements and prone to FF engagements in the subsequent turns. I am looking forward to reading about the rematch.

I had two games myself over the weekend and both my opponents kindly offered to do the AAR which will be along soon.

Cheers

Mic

Thanks for the report. Utter bad luck for the Iyanden, you talk about three criticals and two failed activations. I think that I saw three failed portal activations which just finished you off.

This has been a main difficulty that has been seen with the Iyanden - The delivery system. I'll be honest, if I'd been playing against the Iyanden and seen no Wraithgate I would have teleported the terminators at the start of turn one to either engage or sustain fire at two of the Storm Serpents to try and cut your options down.

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I think there are options here, but the strategy behind how you use the Iyanden is key and possibly needs more thought than for other armies. I have posted some thoughts here because someone else has asked exactly the same question.

I might add that Rangers become a key formation on OW to protect the SS against exactly the kind of sneaky Marine trick pointed out by Tim

I still think that a pair of SS may also be sensible, because even if one is destroyed the formation can break forwards to allow the other gate to be used. Indeed, a formation of three SS puts your BTS in hams way somewhere near the enemy and this probably mandates the use of an even larger Wraith formation, which in turn puts a huge drain on points. Though at 5000 points and with appropriate supporting formations, it might just be fun to try

However, as things stand at the moment the Iyanden list tends to present narrow strategic options with all eggs in one basket and no 'plan B', which makes for increasingly binary results; you either win or lose big. While I have always found the Eldar to work best using a single theme in a given game, at the moment things seem overly restrictive.

One of the weaknesses of the storm serpent build (in addition to risking destruction of the SS) has always been the risk of needing to activate and then retain. Still, with init 1+ aspects/wraithseers and farsight in the seers, to fail so many is pretty bad luck.

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Yup, and I know a little about poor dice

The SC reroll is key here to ensure things run smoothly, but if the Wraithseer is off-table the reroll cannot be used to ensure the SS activation. If he is on-table you still have a 2+ to activate the SS and 2+ to get a Wraith host out of the webway, but his reroll reduces the chances of failure whilst starting on-table may also keep the SC slightly safer by not deliberately putting him in harms way.

I tend to discount the Aspects in this list at the moment; they take up a rare slot needed for other formations and 4x aspects are too weak to deploy without transport, which precludes them from using the webway anyhow. The best option for the Aspects could be adding two Falcons and a Wave Serpent allowing them some AT capability as well as a moderate assault, all for 325 points.

Agreed

I don't know 4 Swooping Hawks for objective grabbing or a cheaper air assault with Howling Banshees picking off a small formation like artillery.

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True, though HBs are already relegated to that sort of role when they are 8 strong (unless you are feeling *very* courageous ) and at 4 strong, you only need a few lucky hits to wipe out the entire formation.

The more pressing issue is the 1:1 ratio; there are other formations that I would take first, especially since the SC reroll is elsewhere.

TBH I agree on the 1:1, it's pretty hard to justify including them with that ratio, in a storm serpent build anyway. I only mentioned aspects in the context of a retain for completeness, and in comparison with the BT list (i.e. it's nothing new). The Iyanden actually fare better in this respect, since retaining to bring the wraithseer himself on is a 1+.

There is a bit of a tension regarding where to put the wraithseer. On the one hand, having him on the board and keeping him safe since he has the re-roll and possibly is BTS. On the other, the auto retain is a tactical advantage and we all know how crucial an engage activation can be for Eldar. You don't want him offboard all game unable to use his re-roll, but you might not want to risk him as the first formation out of the webway and into a nasty assault.

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Steel Legion vs Iyanden 4.2 3000 points.

Iyanden 4.2 List (3000)
5x Wraith Guard – 325 (in webway)
4x WG, Wraith Seer, Wave Serpents - 575
4x Wraith Blades – 225 (In vampire)
6x Wraith Lords – 350 (in webway)
Vampire - 200
EOV Storm Serpent - 250
5x Ranger - 125
SOV 3x Falcons, 2x Fire Storms -250
Wraithgate - 50
Avatar – 0
Revenants – 650 (BTS)


Steel Legion (3000)
Regimental Hq Infantry Company with 3x Leman Russ and 1x Sniper (BTS) (with commissar)
Leman Russ Company (with Commissar)
Heavy Tank Company (2 Shadow swords and 1 Baneblade with commissar)
Hydra Pl (with commissar)
Hydra Pl (with commissar)
Sentinel Pl (with commissar)
Sentinel Pl
Basilisk Platoon
Basilisk Platoon
Thunder bolts

A warm day in fair Newcastle. The ring of the steel mills resounds as the legions gather for war… And beers, lots of beers.

My list was the list I took to Cancon in 2014 and came equal second with Onyx. The list suffered no defeats and was able to come away with 4 wins and a draw. It is a similar variant to the list I took to Cancon 2012 and came first place with – so it is a fairly tried and tested list.

Mic’s was cobbled together and really had no hope. (Mic feel free to add some kind of list design notes here haha)

Deployment

I deployed to dominate the open area at the centre of the table, which contained 3 objectives (including Mics Wraith Gate). There was a wall of forest and rock formations on my left flank that I suspected Mic would attempt to advance down. Seeing as though it was going to block my line of sight and deny my range over match I decided to concentrate on the centre field and deny him freedom of manoeuver by isolating his gate.

Mic deployed off to my left flank and denied the right flank. With only 5 formations it was hard to leave a lot of space open. He cleverly used the rock formations and other elder tricks to make maximum use of the terrain.

Turn 1
Iyanden win priority.
Flacons Double and secure the left obj.
Basilisks 1 Sustain fire and target the Storm Serpent causing 1 DC damage and 2 blast markers.
Storm serpent then fails to activate (even using supreme commanders re-roll) and is therefore broken. It doubles up near the falcons.

Basilisks 2 then sustain fire onto the Storm serpent inflicting a further 2 DC damage and destroying it outright. A sigh is heard in the warp…

The Iyanden Rangers then attempt to conduct a march but fail, and decide to hunker down to clear blast markers

The Guard call in air support and place the TBOLTs on CAP.

The Wraith Guard Mounted in Wave Serpents double and hide behind a large ruin in the centre of the board – threatening a broad swathe of the field.

The regimental headquarters pushes left and disgorges its infantry in vicinity of the forest it targets the falcons and achieves 4 hits… somehow mics “casino” dice make 4 of the 5+ saves…
The intent of the infantry company pushing left was to draw out mics revenants but also attempt to eliminate the exposed falcons… it did one well and one not so well…

The revenants shot off on their nike runners and shot at the Rg Hq inf company before ducking into cover behind a rock formation in FF range of the Rg Hq.

The elder Vampire with 4 Wraith Blades conducts an air aslt on to the isolated Rg Hq, with revs in fire support. I let mic carefully arrange his flight pattern and unpack his troops carefully placing them in the most convenient locations before launching my CAP. The TBOLTs achieve 4 hits on the vampire, but again mics casino dice deflect all hits… but critically put a blast marker onto the formation.
The wraith blade performance is lack lustre and only manage to inflict 4 casualties on the guard.
The guard inflict 1 casualty in return on the vampire. The wraith blade reinforced armour was impenetrable. The supporting fire from the revenants was restricted by their tricksy elder placement which left one bocking the other. Going into the combat res Eldar were up by 1… before the dice were rolled and ended up losing the combat by 1. This destroyed the vampire and led the blades to withdraw into the forest.

The Hydras rallied to the defence of the beleaguered rg hq and send a hail of flak at the revenants causing 2 DC and a Crit.

With the Wraith guard covered by the leman russ tank company and the super heavies Mic stood down the Wraith Lords.

Sentinels 1 Double and shoot at the revenants and lay a blast marker.

The Wraith Guard are stood down.
The Leman Russ company double and shoot at the revenants inflicting 1 DC, destroying 1 and breaking the other, who promptly flees to the cover of the central ruins.

The super heavies go onto OW to cover the gate.
Hydra 2 advances towards the gate and sentinel 2 advance towards the gate to set up a screen across the gate exit.

In the reorg phase the Revenants fail their rally roll, but the Wraith blades pass and the flacons clear blast markers. The Infantry Company sheds most of its blast markers. The Tbolts are shot down by the deadly accurate fire of the firestorms as they exit the table.

At the end of turn 1 things looked bad for the elder after having lost a revenant, storm serpent, vampire and falcon with the guard only suffering negligible losses to the RG HQ company.

Turn 2
Iyanden win priority again.

The turn opens with a stunning move by Mic as he doubles the Wraith Guard and Wave serpent formation to shoots at the Rg HQ. Destroying 1 Russ and an inf stand. The Wraith Blades then retains and engage the Rg Hq and Hydras (in FF) with the support of the Wraith Guard. The ensuring combat is brutal for the guard with all the MW death from the Wraith Guard. Luckily for me mic rolls a double 1 for combat resolution… which still puts him up by 2 when roll a 1 and a 2. The combat res kills the supreme commander, which leaves 4 inf stands and 2 chimeras remaining. It is at this point that Mic reminds me that the RGHQ is my BTS… which I had forgotten.

Basilisk 1 retaliates by inflicting a BM on the falcons.

The falcons attempt to move and shoot, but fail and regroup instead.

Basilisk 2 fail to sustain fire, so regroup.

The Large wraith guard formation disgorge from the gate and engage the Sentinels picketing it, only to be met by a storm of fire from the Super Heavy tank company…. That results in a grand total of 1 hit from a 1 cannon (also known as a volcano cannon but nicknamed the 1 cannon by its gunners for always failing to hit) The wraith guard easily win the combat but the commissar sentinel is left to scurry off for him to shout order at himself for cowardice…

The Hydras facing off against the wraith guard at the gate quail and fail to activate. And move out of the way.

The rangers double and shoot at the sentinels inflicting 3 casualties, breaking the formation who double and nestle next to the Revenants.

The leman russ company makes its presence felt by shooting at the Wraith Guard and Wave serpent formation killing 3 wraith guard (including the wraith seer) and 1 wave serpent – breaking the formation, who flee to the centre of the board

Wraith Lords then triple move out of the gate to get within striking distance of the Super Heavies.

In the reorg phase, the RG HQ Rallies and the two sent formations rally, but the lone hydra remains broken. The broken wraith guard rally but the Revenant remains broken.

Turn 3
Iyanden retain priority for the third turn in a row….

This could have been a game changer as the wraith lords were in a position to wipe out the super heavies and clear the blitz which would have positioned the elder for a close win…
As it turns out the Super heavies brush off the attention of the wraithlords and inflict 3 casualties for the loss of 1 DC. Wraith lords lose the combat and that seals the defeat for the Iyanden. The rest is a mopping up operation to allow the guard to sneak away with 2 victory conditions.

The Super Heavies move and shoot to target the remaining 4 strong formation of wraith guard eliminating the unit.

The rangers shoot at the sent closest to the elder blitz to deny a sneaky blitz taking.

The leman russ’ were about to push up and clear the left most objective of the falcons, but mic shakes the bone singer at them and they fail to activate. They remain in location and shoot the falcons through the trees. Destroying 2 and breaking the formation.

The Wraith Blades withdraw to secure the objective previously held by the falcons.

Basilisk 2 fires on the wraith guard and wave serpents killing a wave serpent and breaking the formation.

The RG HQ moves and shoots at the Wraith Blades and contest the obj.

The Hydras double and shoot at the wrath blades – securing the two central objectives

The remaining sent secures the eastern objective.

The last action of the game is by the basilisks who bravely sustain fire and break the wraith blades.

In the reorg phase only the Wraith guard and wave serpent formation rallies which denies me They shall not pass.

Result:
Steel Legion Win 2-0: Take and Hold and Defend the flag.

Steel Legion had all but one sentinel formation and the tbolts remaining on the field.
Iyanden had lost a Revenant, Vampire, Storm Serpent, 8 Wraith guard, 4 wave serpents, 3 wraith lords, 3 falcons and a wraith blade.
Eldar VP: 600
Steel Legion VP: about 2100

Overall the Iyanden are a strong list, but a few unlucky rolls meant that Mics gambles didn’t come off. The wraith blade engagement on the Rg Hq was a 225 unit against a 700 point unit, albeit supported by a revenant, but with numbers and 2 commissars it was always going to be a hard task. I think Mic would have been better to hold off Air aslt and use it to threaten my super heavies prior to or simultaneously to a gate attack. However my AA bubble did preclude a great deal of freedom of manoeuvre for mic, as flying in against 6 or even 3 hyrdas plus CAP is not a pretty thought.

Similarly I think the wraith lords and the wraith guards could have been used to support the final attack on the super heavies by doubling and engaging and then lending fire support.

I think this list would have done better to wait until turn 2 before conducting any engage actions. And used the wraith blades as a supporting attack against a smaller formation, rather than trying to use it as a unit to lead big assaults.

The storm serpent was always going to get turned into a tin can in turn 1 by guard but if it hadn't it would present a significant tactical challenge.

Mic played an aggressive game that almost paid off but he couldnt afford to sit back and let me shoot him to hell and dictate the engagements.

I liked the 1:1 ratio. Iyanden still had plenty of treats to play with. The wraith blades performed okay, but were possibly not used to maximum effect. Hard seeing a reason to take them at present compared to the MW goodness of their non running with scissors cousins.

The animated construct rule didn’t come into play.

Great Game Mic. Thanks for the opportunity to play against you again.

Cheers,
Jim

Thanks for the great game report and subsequent comments.

It sounds as though the dice played a large part in the game, though losing the SS was significant.
The lack of inspiring in the Wraith formations is a bit of a handicap, especially when coming up against Commissars, and positioning is always key - and can make the difference between winning and losing assault resolutions as in this case.

Given the 3K list, using the Revenants limits the amount of supporting AA that can be fielded making Vampires a juicy target, though a lone SS is equally vulnerable. I suspect that the Iyanden need to major in just one or two of these areas; titans, SS or Vampires rather than trying to field all three. At higher points games, the list is likely to be brutal precisely because of the increased options available, but hey it is early days yet . . . . .