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Dark Eldar vs Imperial Guard in "Bella's New Friends (1500, 5/18)
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Hi All,
I have another BatRep, this one my first battle with the new Dark Eldar.
It was played right after my Tau battle, so same board setup and mission.
However, the new Dark Eldar... they're pretty good.
The Codex itself is a lot more flavourful than the Tau one and quite frankly, power-wise I think it's a big jump.
So, I took a Black Heart Battalion for it's 6+ FNP save on everything (including vehicles) and the game changing Agents of Vect Stratagem that lets me deny Strats.
Oh, and for fun, I decided to bring out a trio of Talos.
Why? Mostly because I needed to keep half my army on the board, and since you now have to count Power Points...
Well, the Talos are big point sinks that hopefully won't get blown off the board turn 1.
I had heard that they were the "special sauce" in the Codex, so I also wanted to see what they could do.
That is, if they ever got to the front lines.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
How did the True Kin do?
Were things over in a heartbeat or was it a slugfest?
Read. On.
Best,
-BT
P.S. Comments and Critiques greatly appreciated! Plus, there is fluff...
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Dark Eldar (1500): 23 Infantry, 3 MCs, 7 Vehicles; 8 CPs
Black Heart Battalion
-Archon w/Huskblade, Blaster
-Archon w/Agonizer, Blaster, Writ of the Living Muse
-Warriorsx5 w/Blaster
-Warriorsx5 w/Blaster
-Warriorsx5 w/Blaster
-Ravager w/Disintegratorsx3
-Ravager w/Disintegratorsx3
-Razorwing w/Disintegratorsx2
-Razorwing w/Disintegratorsx2
-Raider w/Disintegrator
-Raider w/Disintegrator
-Raider w/Disintegrator
Prophets of the Flesh Patrol
-Haemonculus w/EC Whip, Vexetor Mask
-Wracksx5
-Talosx3 w/Chain Flails, Macro-Scapels, Haywire Blastersx6
Warlord: Labrynthine Cunning, Diabolical Soothsayer
Imperial Guard (1500): 59 Infantry, 9 Vehicles; 15 CPs
Cadian Brigade
-Company Commander w/Kurov's Aquilla (Warlord)
-Tank Commander w/Battle Cannon, Lascannon
-Tank Commander w/Battle Cannon, Lascannon
-Primaris Psyker w/Force Staff
-Commissar
-Commissar
-Commissar
-Infantry Squad w/Mortar
-Infantry Squad w/Mortar
-Infantry Squad w/Mortar
-Infantry Squad w/Mortar
-Infantry Squad w/Mortar
-Infantry Squad w/Mortar
-Scout Sentinel w/HFlamer
-Scout Sentinel w/HFlamer
-Scout Sentinel w/HFlamer
-Manticore
-Manticore
-Manticore
Warlord: Grand Strategist
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Chapter 15: Bella's New Friends
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The spiked door irised open to show another empty room. The figure in the entryway raised a concerned eyebrow and brought a thin hand up to his face, rubbing his chin in thought.
Farseer Thielbane of Craftworld Biel-Tan was now officially worried. This was the third similarily room that had he had checked. Once, it had held another of his Craftworld brethren, but now it was empty. Thielbane had noticed the subtle absence of Craftworlders aboard the Drukhari vessel that they shared, but it had taken him a slightly longer amount of time to confirm his suspicions.
They were gone.
All of them.
Not all the Eldar per se, but the Craftworlders, surely enough. Sadly, he had let his own guard down, not having bothered scrying the future since Y'stral was away. The Archon of the Grisly Hand Kabal had sped away in the dead of near-night on some sort of mission that left Thielbane minding the proverbial shop. The other Craftworlders had thought the Farseer mad for not bolting at the nearest opportunity, but Y'stral had been a staunch companion for such a long time, it seemed unseemly to leave him in a lurch. Plus, the Archon was as vengeful as a Y'nnari with half a Soulburst and getting on his bad side was something to be avoided.
Thielbane leaned against the wall in thought, trying to avoid the spikier bits that hummed slighlty with the far-off wails of anguish from the Torment Pits. He should really consider leaving though. His Craftworld had been shattered and the Seer Council was in disarray. Surely if he wanted to be a major player he could easily come in and assume more than his fair share of power. But, that seemed more trouble than it was worth.
"Thiel!"
A familiar shout broke his reverie, and the Farseer looked up to see Archon Y'stral striding forwards carrying an enormous sack. He was wearing his usual black and red raiding armor and sporting a near-maniacal grin. The game was clearly afoot.
"Y'stral. I'm glad you're back. Do you... Do you know where the others have gone off to?"
The Archon laughed and said back with a sneer, "Oh, those losers? Don't worry about it, Thiel. I sent them away."
A jolt of shock went down Thielbane's spine as the edges of some dark mechanization started to form on the edges of his mind. "Away? Why? I... They wouldn't just... leave me here."
Y'stral shrugged and said, "Yeah, well, you can't do much when you're under sleep-venom. I mean, besides the inner screaming and all."
The Farseer rubbed his temples. Not dead at least. That was good. "I... You didn't... kill them, right?"
The Archon snorted and said, "Nah, I knew that'd put you in a snit. Those boring sticks-in-the-mud were just holding you back. They'll wake up soon enough. Now, we have something big to do, you and me."
Thielbane frowned and said, "Y'stral, I can't just abandon my companions. I..."
"Ffft, those losers?" snorted Y'stral, "I have 'em kept up in one of the secured holds. Nothing'll happen to 'em while we have a little fun. C'mon, don't you at least want to hear the details?"
Thielbane tapped his foot, sighed and said, "If we do this do you promise to let them go, unharmed?"
Y'stral grinned, threw an arm around Thielbane and said, "Absolutely, Thiel. Absolutely. Now, I've got this great opportunity. Been away a while. The Dark City and all. Lots of big changes. Vect really came through and all. You gotta see it, Thiel. It's all... It's like a rummage sale over there. Raiders and Venoms just flying out the door. I picked up so much on the cheap. And all I had to do was just trade some favours around."
"Favours?" replied Thielbane, recognizing a dreaded word amongst Drukhari society, "What... kind of favours?"
"The kind that aren't THAT bad. Vect had just gone off and killed a lot of Archons that were openly backstabbing him and let bygones be bygones for others as long as they swore loyalty and all."
"Wait..." said the Farseer, "Didn't... Didn't your Kabal fight Vect and Lady D'ysperax not that long ago? Didn't we... nearly kill them?"
Y'stral shrugged, "Yeah, but c'mon, Thiel. You think something like that's gonna hold back some potential deal-making? If you stopped dealing with someone just because they killed you once or thrice, you'd never do any business in Commeraugh. Anyway, I put us down as being Vect supporters."
"You did... WHAT?"
"Yeah, I know. They didn't even have hats or anything. Just this stupid tablet thing. 'Writ of the Living Muse.' Hah, more like overwrought paperweight," growled Y'stral, "Anyway... so all we have to do is keep doing what we're doing. You know... winning? And now we can get so much on the cheap and get real weapons Thiel. REAL weapons. I don't know what they were doing to the Huskblades, but that's back and oh, oh you HAVE to see the Blasters now. Knock your socks right off. Blow 'em off more like it."
Thielbane whet his lips, "So... you pledged us to... eternal victory in the name of a vengeful Supreme Lord who will supply us with weapons and equipment, but has the reputation of destroying anyone who disappoints him?"
Y'stral sighed and said, "Thiel, Thiel, Thiel. That's the Craftworld talking. We were hanging on the ledge before, but now we're back on top. All you have to do is never lose."
The audacity of the situation made Thielbane sputter for a bit, which gave Y'stral the opportunity to throw the bag he was carrying onto the ground with a clatter.
"What... What is that, Y'stral?"
The Archon smirked, opening it up and holding out various pieces of savage looking gear. "My old stuff. Extra armor. Oooh, double faced helmet with horns, classic. Old Agonizer. Good ol' blaster. Perfectly in working order."
"I... See..." said Thielbane, not liking where the conversation was headed. "And... why do you have it all here?"
"Because," continued Y'stral, his smile spreading into a rictus grin, "I need a Dracon. Someone who I can trust NOT to stab me in the back."
"What?" said Thielbane, genuinely shocked, "You... can't be serious. Y'stral... I'm not..."
"Not the notorious Space Pirate that made the galaxy quake? Captain Thielbane of the Scarlet Serpents? Him? That's not you?"
Thielbane sighed. It was this conversation again. "You... know that's not how it works. That was a different path. A different me. I can't just..."
"Pretend?" shot back Y'stral, playfully jabbing a finger into the Farseer's chest. "But, which one is the real you, Thiel? Is it this simpering half-competent Rune-lover or is the pirate who made girls squeal and Admirals quake in their boots?"
The Archon pulled the horned helmet up, and Thiel could see his own reflection, twisted in the dark metal. Something about it seemed familar. It... called to him in a way. Something deep within his soul asked a question that had been long since hidden: Why not?
Thielbane whet his lips and said, "Y'stral... If I do this... it'll be... for the good of the Craftworld. Just to let you know."
"Of course," said Y'stral pressing the helmet into his companion's chest, watching as a familiar look crossed the once-Farseer's face, "Good of the Craftworlds. Can't be helped. Did what you had to do. Just this one time, Thiel. You can stop after that. I promise."
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"Sergeant, repeat that last messsage."
Commander Oswald Jenkins of the Cadian 555th was on a routine patrol of his artillery divisions when an odd message had come down the Comm-bead links. The old, grizzled Commander had been through more than he could nearly bear. Being too far away from Cadia when it fell, he felt the damnable pit of dispair open up and swallow him whole. Only by taking in the refugee Guardsmen of their once-bright homeworld did he feel any solace. That and when he was smiting the foes of the Imperium. However, his unit was breaking in new additions and repairing his transports. It would be days still until they could break position, but it did offer him time to test out the new Manticores and make sure that their usually unreliable Storm-Eagle rockets at least worked. And things were shaping up. Until the call.
"Sergeant Collins here, sir. Repeating message. Three. No, make that four contacts sir in the ruins of fifth sector. Xenos. Definitely Xenos."
Jenkins frowned. Xenos? This far away from the trading lanes? How could they have gotten in without tripping any alarms?
"Are you sure, Sergeant? Not some kind of trick by the locals?"
There was a pause and the somewhat more sarcastic reply came back.
"Sir, begging your pardon, but unless the locals are 5-odd meters tall and sporting giant blades, then, respectfully, no, sir, I'd say we're dealing with Xenos."
The Commander frowned. Collins was a ten-year man with no history of tomfoolery. Whatever it was, it was serious.
"Keep your position, Sergeant, we'll be there soon."
Jenkins turned off his comm-bead and tapped open the comms of his Chimera, boosting the exterior speakers.
"This is Commander Jenkins. We're moving out. We have possible Xenos on the horizon, men."
There was some murmurs of discontent that spread through the assembled Guardsmen. Most were looking for vengeance against the hated Ruinous Powers, not against some nebulous third party. But, a few glares and growls from the Commissars shut down any signs of unrest.
Jenkins nodded to himself. Best to take care of things swiftly, then. No need to waste time on reinforcements if just a handful of stragglers. He tugged at his greying beard in thought. No, something about it seemed off. Too easy.
He opened up the internal comms to the Manticores. "Lads, you too. I want a proper field test of your guns. Let's see how the alien likes rockets to the face."
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X'Bella Le'gosi floated slightly off the ground surrounded by her Trio of Talos. Some time had passed, but the Archon's instructions were clear.
1) Go through the Webway Portal to the assigned area.
2) Stand out in the open.
3) Wait for the party to start.
Bella scratched a few more notes in her book. The Archon had established new connections with the Black Heart Kabal, which had oddly made the once aloof Prophets of the Flesh reach out to her Salon of Sorrow. They had usually ignored her and her small group of creations, but now that alliances were being made, Bella had been almost surprised when a sizable number of raw supplies were left mostly screaming on her doorstep.
And it was a nice opportunity to make some new friends. She looked around at the three gigantic monstrosities that hummed as they slowly hovered nearby. Bella had yet to name them, but it was nice to have some new faces around. And it was just perfect timing that she had finished up before the orders had come in.
It had taken her some time to do research about a "party," but the base elements were clear: libations, entertainment and converstaion. The Archon's instructions were unclear, though, if she was hosting the party or if she was joining an ongoing one. Still, she had brought the necessities. One of the Talos had the appropriate large and multi-coloured pointy hat, the other sporting an array of liquid intoxicants and the third pre-programmed with appropriate aural interjections. Having the Talos around did make the entire affair much more straightforward. Indeed, the future overall seemed less forboding.
Actually, it was just less chaotic. By utilizing the broken Soul-Stones from the last few missions alongside the Craftworlders, analyzing the raw fundamental possibility strains of the universe and divining a semblance of the future was no longer an impossibility. She wondered if this is what a Farseer felt like, looking at the bright sun of tomorrow, just beyond the reach of certainty. How much it felt like...
"BELLA!"
Bella looked up to see a somehow familiar looking armored Eldar waving his hands in front of her. She blinked for a moment. The suns had moved rather far in the sky. Time had passed then.
With a nod of her head, the Talos went into immediate action. One of the Talos helpfully dispensed a frothy drink into a cup, another let go with a stream of sparkles into the air from it's Haywire Blasters, and the last howled in an approximation of a friendly greeting recorded from the Hive Fleet Beheamoth.
Instead of showing signs of appreciation, the stranger took a few steps back, shook his head to re-center himself and continued.
"Bella!" interjected the strange new guest, "You have to get out of here! The Imperials are bearing right down on this position. I've got a Raider ready to go! Just get on board and..."
A high whistling sound made Bella look up curiously as something clipped the ruined building next to her and the subsequent seizmic explosion launched the stranger off his feet into her. The Talos growled in discontent, but Bella turned her head to indicate that dismantling was not to be done at this particular moment.
The stranger pulled himself off, realized that his helmeted face had been buried in her chest and muttered a confused apology, looking shamefacedly away.
How curious indeed. She had never seen such a behavior in a Kabalite before. Perhaps it was some kind of viral infection?
"Bella, it's too late now, that was a ranging salvo. We're in the thick of it now. Damnit, Y'stral, why do we cut these things so close?"
Bella noted that one of the Talos was looking at something far away and glanced down the broken avenues, her head turning from one side to the other side in curiosity.
Humans. Rows upon rows of humans. So this was that timeline then. Bella made note of the happenstance as something hit another building knocking around some more inconsequential material. Perhaps they were the guests to the party? It was a good thing that she had brought extra supplies then. She nodded to the Talos, who settled into position.
This was going to be an interesting day indeed.
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Mission: Big Guns Never Tire
Setup: Dawn of War
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To Be Continued!
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Setup
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Well, setup is an interesting one. My opponent is rather surprised by the sheer volume of guys I have available, and when I set the trio of Talos down, he becomes rather worried about the center. I put the Talos down in the middle on my front line with Bella and a Raider with Wracks and my Writ Archon (in the fluff as Thielbane) behind them. Razorwings on the sides and then the rest of my army goes in reserves using Screaming Jets. I also use a CP to give Bella Diabolical Soothsayer, which then gives me back 3 CPs (Best Warlord Trait ever?) and the Vexetor Mask for another CP.
My opponent proceeds to put his Lemun Russes behind the big LoS blocking building to hide them from the Talos (probably anyway) with the Chimera and one Manticore between them. One Manticore goes into each of the ruins on the corner and my opponent wraps each of them with an infantry blob. The Sentinels are deployed more conservatively and the rest of the Guard make nice lines to try and hedge me out.
Dark Eldar finished deploying first and win the roll off!
IG fails to seize and the game is on!
Picture Caption: Can I crack this nut?
