I have a new opponent to take on today at Boards and Swords, John and his Eldar – for an Eldar vs Astra Militarum match up of 1,750 points.

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1,750 point Astra Militarum List

These are all Cadians in a Spearhead and a Battalion.

• Company Commander Warlord with Lost Relic of Cadia and Grand Strategist Trait
• 4x Infantry Squads
• Platoon Commander with The Dagger of Tu’Sakh
• Command Squad all with Plasma Guns
• 2 Tech-Priests
• 10 Ratlings
• A Primaris Psyker
• Knight Commander Pask in a Vanquisher with Lascannon and Plasma Cannons
• 2x Tank Commanders Executioners with Lascannon and Plasma Cannons
• 1x Extermination Tank Commander with Lascannon and Plasma Cannons
• 2x Wyverns
• 2x Basilisks

I have 8 CP.

5 + 3 + 1 – 1 = 8CP

Astra Militarum List Gallery

1,750 point Eldar List

The Eldar are all Ulthwe. This gives them a re-roll on each failed armour/invulnerable save. But the re-roll must be a 6+. This was incorrect, so this part was played incorrectly. See Alex’s comment at the end. Not sure it would have made much difference, but a re-match is on the cards anyway!

• Autarch
• Farseer
• Warlock
• 2 squads of 5x Rangers
• 2 squads of 5x Wraithguard with Wraithcannons
• Crimson Hunter Exarch
• 2x Wave Serpents with the Wraithguard inside
• 10x Guardians with Bright Lance
• 2x Fire Prisms
• A Wraithlord

The Mission – Strategic Gamble

We rolled for Strategic Gamble from Chapter Approved 2018.

This uses Tactical Objectives, we start by discarding six of them. We then chose two to start the game with. For each one, we complete we generate two more at the start of our next turn. We cannot generate more than six per turn.

Finally when the game ends you deduct 1VP for every three cards you have leftover that you have not completed.

I selected;

• Secure Objective 1
• Secure Objective 2

Simply because I was right on top of them at the start.

john selected;

• Big Game Hunter
• Secure Objective 6

A strategic gamble indeed. I have a lot of Big Game but could it be hunted and brought down?

Eldar vs Astra Militarum Deployment

I had to set up firth and then the Eldar did.

I spread out with an infantry screen, Wyverns on the left and Basilisks on the right. All my Leman Russ were in the centre with all my characters hiding in and among them.

The Eldar split their forces too; with a Wave Serpent and a Fire Prism on each flank, the Wraithlord deployed on my left flank. Finally, the Rangers and Guardians would come in later on.

I got to go first turn.

Astra Militarum Deployment Gallery

Turn 1

The Astra Militarum took the first turn after the Eldar failed to seize the initiative.

I did not move much as I was on the objectives that I needed. Two infantry squads did move up to create a better screen. The other two squads moved into nearby ruins. I cast Nightshroud on Pask. I also used the Lost Relic of Cadia this turn for re-roll of ones to hit and wound.

The shooting was relentless from the Guard a combination of Overcharged Plasma and Lascannons managed to destroy a Fire Prism and the Wraithlord. The Ratlings went to work on the Warlock and killed him with ease – he only has 2 wounds it seems.

Pask did not do much, I think this was due to the Ulthwe trait which is extremely handy it turns out.

The Eldar started to sweep around both flanks with the Crimson Hunter coming in on my right along with a Wave Serpent full of Wraithguard. The other Wave Serpent on the other flank did the same and made a be-line towards my Wyverns.

The Eldar shooting was unfortunate and only a few wounds were lost on some Guardsmen, a Wyvern and a Basilisk.

I had managed to get both of two initial objectives, but the Eldar got only one, failing on Big Game Hunter.

I also got First Strike.

Turn 2

From my two successful cards on the last turn, I got to generate four more;

• Assassinate
• Troops on the Ground
• Master the Warp
• Hammer of the Emperor

I moved my screens around a bit, although somehow managed to forget the Wraithguard would pop out next turn and did not account for that fact. My Command Squad arrived with their Platoon Commander.

I cast Nightshroud again on Pask.

Shooting wise it went well, again. The Command Squad came on and smashed the Fire Prism out the sky. That was the main big-hitting weapons now gone for the Eldar. I did not manage to kill a Wave Serpent though, one was down to a single wound and the other lost just one wound.

Pasks’ Lascannon stripped six wounds from the Crimson Hunter which was good! But he failed to do much with his main weapon.

The Ulthwe trait was doing wonders for John. I would hit with a Lascannon against the Flyer, then wound and he would fail his save. He would then roll again and get a six! This then mitigated the D6 damage of the Lascannon – when it works it is fantastic.

The Eldar moved up and started their assault into my vehicles. The Wraithguard did several wounds to a Wyvern and a Basilisk with their shooting – they then charged and did some more damage but failed to kill the Wyvern. The Basilisk did die though.

The first unit of Rangers arrived by failed to do any significant damage to any characters.

All my Ratlings died this turn.

Objectives wise I managed to get;

• Master the Warp
• Hammer of the Emperor
• Troops on the Ground for D3 – I rolled a 2

The Eldar also did better this turn and managed to get;

• Big Game Hunter
• Master the Warp

Turn 3

During the last turn, I achieved three cards, giving me six more this turn. I drew;

• Death from Afar
• Kingslayer
• Chain of Command
• Advance
• Area Denial
• Overkill

I now had a lot of cards, which was bad. My artillery moved out and away from the combat they were in, so I could shoot the Wraithguard.

I poured everything into them, a lot of Plasma, and managed to kill all ten – but only just. The Crimson Hunter was now down to one wound too. Pask stepped up and did nine wounds to a Wave Serpent with his Vanquisher Cannon. That did not kill it though.

The Wave Serpent on the right flank finally lost its last wound.

I charged the enemy Warlord and surrounded him, why? I do not know, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The Astra Militarum scored with Area Denial for 1VP and Overkill.

The Eldar drew;

• Legacy of Sorrow
• No Prisoners
• Secure Objective 3
• Defend Objective 3

The Eldar mustered their last stand with the Guardians and last unit of Rangers arriving. Both units of Rangers failed to kill a character so Legacy of Sorrow was lost. The Guardians came in, just, into a corner of the table and managed to charge the Guardsmen surrounding the Eldar Warlord. They managed to wipe the squad, freeing the Warlord.

My Wyvern lost its last few wounds that the Wraithguard could not finish off. Objective 3 was impossible, it had two Guardsmen on it in the table centre.

The Eldar did manage to get 3VP from the D3 on the No Prisons card. They destroyed three of my units, 2 Guardsman squads and the Wyverns.

Eldar vs Astra Militarum Summary

We called the game at this point because we ran out of time and the Eldar were on the back foot. They had the Crimson Hunter left, Rangers and Guardians. But the Flyer was on just one wound as was the last Wave Serpent.

We both got Linebreaker but we also both lost a VP for having Tactical Objectives that were not completed.

I did try and ensure my first strike was very effective. It is the point in the game my forces can get the most done – and in this game, they seemed to have done their job. Taking out a Wraithlord and a Fire Prism before they even got a chance to shoot was a big deal. Linked Fire was lost for the Prisms – which is re-rolls for hits and wounds.

A re-match will happen…

Final score…