Having had a narrow loss to my pal Nathaniel's Wraith army months earlier, I told him I wanted a rematch. He asked if I was sure. That should've been warning sign number one right there. Warning sign number two was my list, and its lack of AP3. (I cannot fathom why I forgot about the Destroyer Cult. It didn't have the numbers it does now, but I could've fielded it.)
Nathaniel's list:
Iyanden Eldar
Lianna Arienal (custom character from 2E lore, balance-approved by Ike)
Farseer
Spiritseer
2x Skyweaver Jetbikes
5x Wraithblades with Ghost swords
5x Wraithblades with Ghost axes and Force shields
5x Wraithguard w/wraithcannons (proxy models)
5x Wraithguard w/wraithcannons
1x Wraithknight w/heavy wraithcannons
Harlequins
Solitaire
Shadowseer
Death Jester
Lianna Arienal (custom character from 2E lore, balance-approved by Ike)
Farseer
Spiritseer
2x Skyweaver Jetbikes
5x Wraithblades with Ghost swords
5x Wraithblades with Ghost axes and Force shields
5x Wraithguard w/wraithcannons (proxy models)
5x Wraithguard w/wraithcannons
1x Wraithknight w/heavy wraithcannons
Harlequins
Solitaire
Shadowseer
Death Jester
This was the first game played on my new gaming "table", a.k.a. a huge piece of unwanted styrofoam that almost exactly fit 40k standard table dimensions. Mission was Emperor's Will with Dawn of War deployment. I won initiative and chose to set up first. I heavily weighted my left flank, intending to crush him with weight of fire, and put the Canoptek Harvest on the right flank, to either hold that flank, or hook left if I needed their support. I positioned my objective in the ruins on the left flank.
Nathaniel set up evenly spread across the board, with the Wraithknight, Skyweaver Jetbikes, and Solitaire tucked in his right corner. The Farseer set up with his farthest-left Wraithguard squad, the Spiritseer with the proxy-Wraithguard, and the Shadowseer squatted on his objective, which he put behind the gray rock on top of the green hill.
Full deployment.
Nathaniel failed or didn't try to steal the initiative, and the game went ahead.
Turn 1
I moved up. That was it.
In hindsight, letting the army with the 12" guns go first may have been the better idea.
Way too late now. Anyway, I moved up, had the Lychguard run towards the Wraithblades for a throwdown, consolidated firing positions, and failed to put the Stalker in cover. This would come back to bite me.
Nathaniel's turn, he moved up, and did a whole lot more. In his psychic phase he got Eldritch Storm off on my Wraiths, which...did something, I just remember their ++3 saved their robot butts. Lianna got the Conceal power off, but Periled, rolled on the table, and got the epic 6. Vale of Tears was cast on the Termie-Wraiths. The Wraithknight hopped forward, fired its cannons, and got First Blood by killing my Stalker.
Turn 2
For reserves, the Tomb Blades came on from reserve on my left flank, to help out and eventually hold the objective there. Both squads of Triarch Praetorians also came in, I had them deep-strike near the Wraithlord. There wasn't much movement, aside from my right flank moving up and my left flank backing away frantically from the giant spirit-death-robot. My shooting killed a Skyweaver jetbike, and took a single wound from the Wraithlord. In assault, Kobeh and the Lychguard charged the Wraithblades, and in the center the Canoptek Wraiths charged the Wraithguard and killed two. Too many Wraiths to keep track of.
Nathaniel's turn 2. He slogged his unengaged Wraithguard towards me, and his Wraithknight hopped towards my left-flank Immortals. One of his psykers got Horrify off on the Lychguard, meaning I had to deal with a Ld7 squad for a turn. The Death Jester hidden in the shadow of that megalith in Nathaniel's deployment zone put some punishing fire into Rynkelyh's Immortal squad. Nathaniel then assaulted everything. The Wraithknight vaporized my helpless Immortals on the left flank; the Lychguard-Wraithblade combat continued to the next turn; the Wraithlord assaulted the nearer squad of Praetorians and that turned into ongoing combat; and the Wraiths-Wraithguard combat was also ongoing, though in my favor.
Turn 3
The Ghost Ark put on his turn signal and backed around the building, staying as much out of sight of those strength D Wraithcannons as possible. The warrior squads nearby consolidated into cover and let the Wraithknight have all of their rapid-fire gauss. Not one wound. On the right flank, Rynkelyh rallied his Immortals, and they killed the Death Jester at range. In assault, the Lychguard-Wraithblade combat turned in my favor, with two or three 'blades going down. My Wraiths killed the Wraithguard and hung around, waiting to get into combat with the Wraithlord. Both Praetorian squads were engaged with the Wraithlord by now, losing models but doing nothing to it. S5 vs T8 is not fun for the S5 half of the equation.
Nathaniel's turn, his Crimson Hunter entered the battle on my right flank. The Farseer decided to mind-war with my Canoptek Spyder, and got royally served by a robot half his points cost. (His WS and BS was reduced to 1 until the end of the following turn, if I remember correctly.)
That delicious moment aside, this was the turn the balance of the battle began to noticably slip away from me. Nathaniel decided he was tired of my Lychguard trouncing his Wraithblades, and sent the Termie-Wraithguard, the Solitaire, and the Wraithknight in. I was honored and appalled to earn such a measure of overkill. Inevitably, by the end of that turn the Lychguard were dust on the wind, and to add insult to injury, the Solitaire challenged, Kobeh accepted, and then was immediately instakilled by the Solitaire's stupid-powerful weapon.
Turn 4
At long last, massed gauss-fire took 2 wounds off the Wraithknight. Desperate to try and finish it off, or even lock it down, I sent in my remaining Wraiths, and they knocked 1 more wound off it in assault. The Scarabs, having lost their accompanying Spyder a turn ago, dove into the Praetorian-Wraithlord combat.
On Nathaniel's turn, he had the Solitaire Blitz behind my lines, right by the two warrior squads in the woods. Rynkelyh and a single Immortal somehow hung on through the shooting phase by the narrowest of margins. The Solitaire assaulted my warriors with Lord Nahz, and the Termie-Wraithguard joined the Praetorian-Wraithlord-Scarab cluster. Despite the confusion, the Praetorians and Scarabs rallied and brought the Wraithlord down to 1 wound.
Turn 5
Seeing that Nathaniel's forces had advanced away from his objective, with only his Shadowseer guarding it, I hopped Rynkelyh and the unengaged and understrength warrior squad into the Ghost Ark, and had it cruise and move flat-out to Nathaniel's objective. The Ark immobilized itself landing on the difficult terrain (the hill), but it had done its job. I put my lone surviving Tomb Blade on my objective in the ruins. In assault, the Solitaire challenged and fought my new Cryptek model, and both survived. The Solitaire may have then Hit & Run that turn to get away from combat. The Scarabs, praised be the Spyder that maintained them, finally slew the Wraithlord.
His turn, Nathaniel had the Wraithknight blow up the Ghost Ark. Rynkelyh and the warriors survived without a scratch. Nathaniel's army, having advanced out to cover the board, began to contract back towards his objective. The Shadowseer bravely but foolishly charged Rynkelyh's squad, and was cut down in overwatch.
Turn 6?
My notes do not record whether there was a turn 6; photo evidence shows the Solitaire jumping on my objective, and fighting my Tomb Blade for it. The crazy-melee-equipped Eldar with the super-killy-weapon won over the one-attack-WS4 Necron jetbike. Inevitable, but it hurt nonetheless. And the Solitaire only had one more wound, too!
The game ending bottom of Turn 5/6. Final score: Lahkers had the Wraithdar objective for 3 VP, 1 VP for Line Breaker, for a total of 4 VP. The Wraithdar had the Lahkers objective for 3 VP, 1 VP for Line Breaker, and 1 VP for First Blood for 5 VP. (Slay the Warlord is listed for the Wraithdar, but photos show Rynkelyh alive and well at the end...not sure what's going on there.) Either way, it was a WRAITHDAR VICTORY that day.
So, Gabe, what did we learn from this second defeat from the same foe?
- Kill the WraithGUARD, the WraithBLADES, the WraithLORD, and THEN you can kill the WraithKNIGHT. Eliminate the smaller, shorter-ranged guys before they get in your face.
- You can never have enough medium-to-long-ranged AP3, otherwise known as a Destroyer Cult.
- Kill the Spiritseer before you start whaling on the Wraithknight, otherwise it gets its obnoxious wound-recovery rolls.
- Praetorians with Rods of Covenant (S5 AP2) are best used against MEQ. Against larger, tougher things, their other weapon options, a Particle Caster (12" pistol, S6 AP5) with a Voidblade (S-user, Entropic Strike and Rending) give you the same chance of wounding T8 along with an extra attack (two one-handed weapons).
Extra pics:
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| Very cleverly disguised Wraithguard. |
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| Coincidental theming with the gaming table and the Wraith bases. |
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| Come on, Kobeh. |
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| Pictured: Bug of the Match, Slayer of Wraithlords. |
