It gave me the opportunity to test out the force I'm wanting to paint next for my Sons of Horus (I figure having a preset list will help me stay focused). Horus Heresy lists struggle at lower points and I was against Eldar, who are hideously undercosted, so I didn't hold out much hope of victory tbh, but it was nice just to be able to play for once.
I brought the following:
Karsson Merradon - Legion Delegatus with Power Axe, Artificer Armour, Refractor Field and Pride of the Legion
Veteran Squad Korkann - 9 x Veterans, 3 with Power Swords, 1 with Power Axe, 1 x Meltagun in a Rhino with Heavy Bolter, Sniper
Terminator Squad Sekundus - 6 x Legion Terminators with Power Fists, 1 with Plasma Blaster
Javelin Speeder - Heavy Flamer, twin-linked Cyclones and a HK missile.
Laser Destroyer Array
Predator 'Drukkar' - Predator with Plasma Executioner Cannon
Whirlwind Scorpius 'Athekan'
A very small list, but like I said, Legions struggle in lower points games. I figured the heavy firepower from the Predator and Whirlwind would help me tip the balance if the Eldar did their usual 'hide and shoot' thing.
Off the top of my head, my opponent brought this:
Farseer on Jetbike
3x Jetbikes, one Shuriken Cannon
3x Jetbikes, one Shuriken Cannon
Vyper
5x Wraithguard with D-Scythes in a Wave Serpent
3 x War Walkers
5 x Warp spiders
A very tough list to face with what I had, but not massively cheesy, aside from the D-Weapons on the Wraithguard.
We rolled the mission with two objectives (can't remember what it's called these days. I know it used to be Take & Hold in 5th Ed) and I won the roll off for deployment. I set up a rough battle line, hoping to spread out and trap the Eldar wherever they happened to go, deploying my Rapier Laser on my right flank to sto him advancing his vehicles across the more open terrain, whilst my Veterans and Predator advanced on his objective and the Terminators secured my own.
It was a good plan I thought. He promptly scuppered it by holding most of his force in reserve, deploying only his Jetbikes, Farseer and Vyper behind the silo which his own objective was in.
Unperturbed, I made my turn one, using my Javelin to score a clean kill on his Vyper. The combined fire of the Predator and Whirlwind did far less damage than I was hoping though, with the Whirlwind only managing to kill two Jetbikes and the Executioner Cannon overheating on me! (First time that's ever done that to me too).
After that the game went massively downhill. The Eldar reserves came on pretty much all at once and my force was surrounded by outflankers and taken apart.
After the Warp Spiders killed my Scorpius, my fate was sealed. I put up a valiant fight though.
The Vterans were forced out of their transport by the Wave Serpent, using the wreck in a less than noble manner to avoid the Wraithguard D-Scythes. They did manage to take the Wraiths apart the next turn though, so I had a measure of revenge before being gunned down almost to a man.
The Terminators managed to hold on far longer than either of us expected though, even managing to kill two out of the three War Walkers bearing down on the objective with Combi-Bolters and Plasma Blaster before the Warp Spiders finally jumped in to finish them off.
The only guy to survive the battle was Merradon, my Legion Delgatus. Thanks to a combination of his Artificer Armour, Refractor Field and the cover afforded by the smoking wreck of the Rhino, he survived fire from pretty much the entire Eldar force for two turns, actually allowing me to reach the natural end of the game. It was amazing to watch and I wish I'd gotten a photo of it, but we were both too absorbed in the unfolding drama to think about getting a pic.
Needless to say, the Eldar won, but it was one hell of a match and it reminded me why I love smaller points games so much. They seem to have a much stronger narrative focus and sense of drama than larger games. I remember laying a lot of 1000 point games with my Space Wolves a few years ago and got the same impression then too. It's a shame the focus of the game these days seems to be on ever larger forces.
After the battle I felt bad that the heroic Merradon had only been a proxy from another Veteran Squad who I'd brought in test the Delegatus rules. To make up for this, I've decided that he's going to become my proper Delegatus model from now on (also doubling as a Vigilator when needed), complete with a spiffy new paint job and a backstory written to reflect his feats. He's now sitting on my painting desk, awaiting his transformation. Hopefully I'll actually get around to it soon. I've got a lot going on atm though, so I'll have to see.
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