This battle was the forth fought as part of my Epic War! Campaign. To find out more about the Campaign, please see this thread;

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=24706

Which units were used for this battle can be found on the pre-campaign force lists in the same thread. To help, the Marine force used was under code C77, the Eldar E4.

The terrain the battle was fought on was a town (F17 on Campaign Map). The Marine army was on First Fire orders and the Eldar on Advance, meaning that the Marines could deploy an extra 15cm forward of the standard deployment zone and would automatically have initiative on turn 1 of the battle.

The Marine army was worth 4,000 points, and the Eldar 2,000. This was the first battle of the campaign to be fought with diffently sized forces. To secure a win, one side must score 40VPs.

Deployment:

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Turn 1 (post-movement):

Anyone who has been following the Campaign will know that, up until now, my Marines have been taking a battering. The Eldar have been breaking far more of my units than I have theirs, and as a result have been streaking into the lead in terms of Campaign Victory Points. This battle is the first which sees me completely change my usual tactics and employ a far more cautious style of play.

Despite the fact that I have double the points value in my force as my opponent does, the terrain we rolled up is not particularly favourable to my forces - too much cover - and so I concentrate my forces on the extreme flanks. I'm also determined to wipe out as much of the enemy force as possible and so deliberately set out not to capture too many objectives.

The fact that I have the extra deployment zones means that I have most of my forces on First Fire during Turn 1.

On the left flank, a Warhost detachment takes a battering as my Titan's Quake Cannon reduces a Guardian-infested building to rubble. There is an unexpected bonus as the Avatar fails a save and - ironically - meets its doom at the hands of a Volcano Cannon! The remaining 2 Guardian stands in a nearby building are unable to hide from a massive volley of Devastator missile fire and are eliminated, along with 2 accompaning Grav-Tanks.

The centre flank is dominated by close combat, this occuring between Jet-Bikes and Land Speeders and Guardians and an HQ stand. Each side loses a skimmer apiece and some horrible dice rolling sees the HQ unit die before his time.

On the right flank, two squadrons of Land Raiders move into position in the ruins. Those Land Raiders on First Fire obliterate a Las-Cannon Squadron with ease.

Marines: 13 VPs
Eldar: 25 VPs

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Turn 2 (post-movement):

The remaining Grav-Tank on the left flank succombs to overwheling fire power, while the Exarchs have a close call when the building they are hiding within resists the effects of the Titan's Quake Cannon and the Volcano Cannon fail to make their mark. The Exarchs knock down several Titan shields by way of response.

There is more Jet-Bike on Land Speeder action in the centre flank which sees the Jet-Bikes break. Meanwhile, the Eldar are allowed to consolidate their position in nearby woods. Still trying not to score too many VPs, no Marine forces attempt to contest this objective.

The right flank sees a few Guardians die, but with so much Marine firepower on this flank, it doesn't seem much.

Marines: 25 VPs
Eldar: 22 VPs

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Turn 3 (post-movement):

On the left flank, the Marines find themselves unable to find any targets for their firepower, but Terminator Land Raiders take an objective. Exarchs bombard the Titan and manage to cause leg damage which could see the Titan collapse if it tries to move in future turns.

Swooping Hawks attack Land Speeders in the Centre Flank but are outfought and broken.

On the right flank, Eldar retreat to prevent further losses while Land Raiders press their advantage and take another objective, this enough to break the Victory Points threshold and win the game!

Marines: 41 VPs
Eldar: 17 VPs

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Post-battle retreat!

In any normal game of Epic the battle ends as soon as the VP threshold is reached. But under campaign rules, the Eldar forces immediately go into fall back mode and try to escape the battlefield alive. The Marines have heard about the ruthlessness of the Eldar (see Battle Report 2) and show the Eldar no mercy.

Howling Banshess and Striking Scorpions are shot down as they flee, chalking up a few more Campaign Victory Points for the Marines.

Campaign Note: This win brings the Marines back into the campaign, but they are still behind and have a lot of work to do...

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Hi Bissler nice Batrep
also nicely painted marines.

Does it work, the fall back order after Victory points are reached?

Cheers Ulric!

Yep, compulsory Fall Back technically works but isn't that enjoyable - though is more realistic as to how forces would fight in war. If you are on the losing side it is incredibly dispiriting watching your guys being mown down as they flee the battlefield. It's really like rubbing salt in the wounds.
Having completed the whole campaign now (several battle reports and campaign updates to follow), we both agree that it would have been better to have fought in a more gentlemanly manner; ie agree that once the VP total has been reached that the battles end there and then and everyone who is still alive at that point still remains on the campaign rosters.
So it comes down to which you prefer, realism or fairness! The beauty of it is that players can make their own minds up, I want people to play the campaign the way they want!

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Hi Bissler thought about the same problems.
In modern warfare a organized retreat happens more often, though imo.
Maybe a "retreat turn" would be needed with charge and advanced orders.

I like your thinking on this one Ulric! Enforced advance orders where the defeated force MUST move their full advance rate back towards their own edge of the table. This would allow them to still fire at the enemy as they retreat and make it less of a slaughter (and less soul-destroying for the losing player who has to watch his forces be blown apart knowing that he cannot offer any response). Obviously, if it was preferable to the defeated player, they could charge backwards to exit the board more rapidly.
Excellent suggestion, think that's a definite amendment for the rules! Thanks!

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Clickable links for more Epic goodness:

Life of Die Channel including Epic Podcasts and Battle Reports

Epic 40K Players Page on Facebook
Net Epic Evolution Rules
Net Epic War! Campaign Rules