Today I have the battle report for my final game of Warhammer 8th Edition, Eldar vs Guard at 1,750 points at Boards & Swords. We wore masks, had to book a table, there was no battle mat, the board was wood so it can be cleaned and the terrain is simple for the same reason, no flock, no trees, etc. We were as safe as we could be in a battlefield of the 41st Millennium during a global pandemic.

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Both lists were posted a while ago, but in short, I was taking;

• Guardsmen in a Stormlord
• Three Demolisher Tank Commanders
• Some Custodians and Trajann

Astra Militarum Gallery

Eldar Gallery

Eldar vs Guard Mission & Deployment

We played Scorched Earth from Chapter Approved 2019. The battle is fairly simple with two objectives in no-mans land and two objectives in each deployment zone. You gain 1VP for each that you control at the start of your turn, starting from the second battle round.

You can also Raze enemy objectives. This removes the objective and gives you 3VP. This is done to an objective you hold at the start of your turn – so you need to get to the enemy objective, hold it for a whole turn and then it can be Razed.

The deployment you can see below. I did not have a lot of stuff for a change! The Eldar were spread out, where I had gone for two spearheads, one of Demolishers and one with the Stordlord and Custodians.

Eldar vs Guard – Deployment – Objective positions

Eldar vs Guard Deployment Gallery

Eldar – Turn 1

The Jetbikes moved up, there were little other movements from the Eldar, the Fire Prisms had line-of-site to the Stormlord. A Warlock on a Jetbike moved up, you can just see him in the image below near the table centre. A single squad of Dark Reaper disembarked into the enemy deployment zone to fire on the Stormlord.

The Ratlings were easily removed from the table for First Strike. The main event was the Fire Prisms who used Linked Fire on the Stormlord. The Fire Prisms plus the Dark Reapers took it down to 14 wounds – 1 wound away from being bracketed to its middle-tier profile. Phew!

The battlefield after Eldar Turn 1

Astra Militarum – Turn 1

I tried to stick to plan; the Stormlord moved up the centre of the table onto the central most objective while two Tank Commanders, including my Warlord, moved up the right flank. The two Tank Commanders on the right removed two squads of three Jetbikes, and another else. The Demolisher Cannons were out of range of anything big and juicy.

The Astropaths got out of the Stormlord before it moved to claim an objective and cast powers. Both failed.

The Custodians also sat back rather than follow the Stormlord to try and protect my now very vulnerable Deployment Zone and objectives. Shooting wise the Stormlord did not have great targets, it could not see the Dark Reapers and so popped a few wounds off the Wave Serpents.

Finally, it charged the Warlock using Crush Em, the Warlock died!

End of my first turn

Eldar – Turn 2

The Eldar hold 1 Objective.

With the Stormlord now halfway across the table, thanks to a 10″ move and a charge – the Eldar wanted rid of it. There was some movement for line-of-sight and the Striking Scorpions came down behind my Tank Commanders on the right. They made their change into my Warlord, but lost 3 models in the process – a few wounds were removed from my Warlord.

There was still a unit of Dire Avengers and another six Striking Scorpions to come into the battle.

The Stormlord did go bang this turn but did not Explode, and the 30 Guardsmen plus two Company Commanders all piled out into the centre of the battlefield. This was somewhat of a blow to my forces because it removed a lot of anti-infantry fire power, but it had done its job and safely delivered 30 or so Guardsmen over halfway across the battlefield.

The battlefield after Eldar Turn 2

Astra Militarum – Turn 2

I hold 4 Objectives.

The Stormlord was now gone and my Guardsmen are out in the open halfway across the board. Some stay put in the centre and are joined by the Custodian Defensor for a 5+ Invulnerable Save. I also get off Psychic Barrier for a +1 to their Save. The Guardians also move to the centre.

Another squad Advances into the ruins and just gets within 3″ of the objective marked on the other side of the ruin inside the Eldar’s Deployment Zone. The final squad heads forward towards the hidden Dark Reapers.

I decided to leave Trajann behind in my Deployment Zone to defend against Deep Strikers. I was really unsure if he should push forward or stay put to remove incoming Deep Strikers, but he stayed to help out.

Shooting goes well and I remove a Wave Serpent using Hail of Fire’s 12 shots from a Demolisher. The Striking Scorpions in my Deployment Zone are also killed from a Demolisher’s Heavy Bolters. My Warlord cannot shoot as it Fell Back.

I declare a charge into the Dark Reapers around the corner after wiping out the other squad with Heavy Bolters, Guardian Spear Bolters and Lasguns. I make the charge, Pile In and have the squad within 3″ of the objective ready to Raze next turn. Some Guardsmen die and two Dark Reapers die in the melee, I pass Morale.

The battlefield after my Turn 2

Eldar – Turn 3

The Eldar hold 1 Objective.

The Eldar spend the turn trying to dislodge the 15 or so Guardsmen that are in combat and in the ruins around their objective. They manage to do this with lots of Shuriken fire and a charge from the Dire Avengers that disembark from a Wave Serpent. I could no longer Raze their objective at the start of my turn for 3VP.

The last Striking Scorpions arrive right in the corner to get Linebreaker. And the last ten Dire Avengers come in to charge a Tank Commander on an objective. They fail their charge, after losing a few models from Overwatch. Had they made it, it would have given the Eldar another VP at the start of their next turn and locked up a Tank Commander for a turn.

The Eldar are hanging on, trying to Raze one of my objectives for a vital 3VP, it is now going to be impossible for me to Raze an enemy objective as all my Guardsmen that made it across the battlefield are now dead.

Astra Militarum – Turn 3

I hold 4 Objectives.

With my guys lost on the other side of the battlefield, it was time to return the favour. I destroyed the Dire Avengers in my Deployment, never pictured, that failed their charge. A Fire Prism was killed by Demolisher shells and I started to take the second Wave Serpent down some wounds, who was then charged by the Guardians but survived on 3 wounds.

My Psychic Phase actually worked this time and I got Nightshroud and Psychic Barrier onto my Tank Commander on the objective in my Deployment Zone.

Things were slowing down now as we died, tried to protect the objectives we had and tried to stop the enemy from Razing our own objectives.

The battlefield at the end of turn 3

Eldar – Turn 4

The Eldar hold 2 Objectives.

The Eldar make one last-ditch attempt to Raze an objective and take the centre objective from me. The centre is shot up a lot and then charged by three Jetbikes. They do enough damage to remove my Troop choice from the objective and hold it.

The Striking Scorpions that were getting Linebreaker left their cover and went for the objective that Trajaan was near and the Astropaths were on. They failed their charge though.

Astra Militarum – Turn 4

I hold 3 Objectives.

The game was pretty much over by now, with neither side having managed to Raze an objective. The Guard was now ahead on points and the Eldar had no models to Raze a Guard Objective or no models to gain backboard control for the 1VP per objective at the start of the turn.

Eldar vs Guard Summary

The Guard managed to forge a victory from table control it seems and by just taking and then holding more objectives than the Eldar. The Stormlord was fun to use, even if only for a turn – but it did do its job and got the Guardsmen into the enemy Deployment Zone. They did all die but they held the Eldar back for a while.

We both made mistakes, I should have placed Trajann and the Guardians into Deep Strike to ruffle up the Eldar’s backlines earlier on. Trajann did nothing all game as he stayed put to defend against an onslaught of Eldar Deep Strikers, which never came.

The Eldar Depp Striking was too piecemeal I think, had they all come in all at once and in one place they could have killed my Astropaths and taken an objective or locked up all my Tank Commander shooting. The Jetbikes could have also tried a turn one charge on my Tank Commanders which would have removed some of my shooting right from the start, and with no Demolishers I would have struggled.

Onwards, to 9th!