Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report #50 – Dark Eldar vs Khorne Demons

Welcome back to the Maelstrom, as we resume content following our long construction absence! Today we’re kicking off the new campaign that we narrate, assisting Dicehead Games to bring you the Battle of Arenam. Today we attack the planet’s teleporter arrays. The Dark Eldar are seeking an additional edge in their predations against the armies engaged across the planet, and the Demons of Khorne seek, as always, to murder and destroy in the name of their violent god.

Sapka glared imperiously on his fleet of slender vessels, their cruel hulls marked with curved horns and serrated spikes. They shot along just above the cement surfaces of the primitive Mon’keigh city, toward a distant knot of structures that were much less primitive. Actinic light leapt from one building to the next, and he smiled maliciously when he realized that the systems were still powered.

They had been looking for the teleporter arrays since their arrival, many days before. Now they were on their course, and it seemed that they had reached the objective before any others.

Without warning, the sky started to darken, and Sapka hissed in irritation. The sky bruised, and droplets of blood began to fall. Normally he would have cherished this brush with the otherworldly, but now the timing was all wrong. He needed the teleporter arrays, and he needed them intact. He had seen time and again how the forces of Chaos could pervert perfectly good technology to their own nefarious ends.

Howls emerged from the streets ahead, and Sapka turned his attention to the Wyches that rode on the deck of his own skiff. “Ready yourself. There shall be blood spilled today.”

The Armies

Sapka’s Symphony

Dark Eldar – 2,000

Combined Arms Detachment

HQ

Archon: WARLORD (Blood Dancer); Power Sword, Shadowfield, Haywire Grenades

Haemonculus: Flesh Gauntlet

TROOPS

Wyches: four additional Wyches; Raider transport with Disintegrator Cannon and Enhanced        Ethersails

Wyches: four additional Wyches; Raider transport with Disintegrator Cannon and Enhanced        Ethersails

Warriors: five additional Warriors; Shredder, Raider transport with Disintegrator Cannon and       Enhanced Ethersails

Warriors: five additional Warriors; Shredder, Raider transport with Disintegrator Cannon and       Enhanced Ethersails

Warriors: five additional Warriors; Shredder, Raider transport with Disintegrator Cannon and       Enhanced Ethersails

Warriors: five additional Warriors; Shredder, Raider transport with Disintegrator Cannon and

            Enhanced Ethersails

FAST ATTACK

Scourges: five additional Scourges

Reaver Jetbikes: three additional Jetbikes; 2x Blaster

Hellions: five additional Hellions; Helliarch with Stun Claw and Splinter Pistol

HEAVY SUPPORT

Talos: one additional Talos; 2x Chainflails

Cronos: Spirit Probe

Ravager: 3x Dark Lance

The Tithe

Chaos Demons – 2,000

Demonic Incursion

Demon Lord

Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage: WARLORD (Corpulescence, Dark Blessing, Magic Weapon (Axe of Khorne)

Murderhorde

Skulltaker: Juggernaut

Bloodcrushers: two additional Bloodcrushers; Banner of Blood, Instrument of Chaos, Magic        Weapon (Etherblade)

Bloodletters: Banner of Blood, Instrument of Chaos

Bloodletters: Banner of Blood, Instrument of Chaos

Bloodletters: Banner of Blood, Instrument of Chaos

Flesh Hounds: one additional Flesh Hound

Flesh Hounds: one additional Flesh Hound

Flesh Hounds: one additional Flesh Hound

Flesh Hounds: one additional Flesh Hound

Gorethunder Battery

Herald of Khorne: Blood Throne, Locus of Wrath

Skullcannon

Skullcannon

Skullcannon

After Action Review

Khorne has been calling to me since the release of the new Bloodthirster model. My first army was World Eaters, and I’ve always had a place in my heart for the Blood God. However, years of subpar rules and frustrating assault rules have kept me from doing more than buying the new Bloodthirster and looking at him nostalgically each time I passed.

The Demonic Incursion has done much to change that mindset. Many point to the ability to corrupt objectives, and I have to agree that it is probably the most powerful aspect of the new formation set. But for me, the bigger draw was the ability to add or take away from the result rolled on the Warp Storm Table. My final straw came one day when my Bloodthirster was Punished by the Gods and killed, through no fault of my own. I never minded the random nature of Chaos, but I always felt like it should have been a different mix, a “terrible power, but with a price” approach. I always imagined that Chaos burned its servants out by fueling them with unimaginable power. I never imagined they simply lit them on fire to watch them burn!

Before this turns into a soap box rant of all the ways Games Workshop has failed its Chaos fans over the last ten years, I instead want to focus on all the good this formation set has done for the Demons. I sincerely hope that the Traitor’s Hate book can bring the same value to Chaos Space Marines, because they have been relegated to the underpowered pile for far, far too long. In addition to the two buffs I already mentioned, the ability to reroll Instability Tests is also a tremendous boon. On turn four, for example, I rolled double ones on the Warp Storm. I didn’t want to go to a 3 (Punished by the Gods), because I didn’t know if I could mentally endure losing another Bloodthirster in such a silly way. However, I also don’t feel like it is right to say I rolled a 1 on 2D6 and there is therefore no effect. So, I sucked it up and rolled Instability on every unit in the army. After the reroll, I had lost nothing.

I’m also struck by how fast Khorne is now. This is the first time I’ve played the Demons with Flesh Hounds, as I never much cared for the halfway-done GW models. Their speed and moderate resilience drew fire from my other units, ensuring that some things survived to hit melee.

When they did hit melee, did they ever make a mess! The buff of Hatred from the Blood Throne, coupled with the Murderhorde’s inbuilt advantage, made my understrength units hit with the force of their unbuffed, full-strength counterparts. I just couldn’t believe the damage that small handfuls of Bloodletters were doing. It reminded me of the last edition, when Juggernauts of Khorne were still super resilient and their weapons cut through even Terminators. That said, I doubt the slaughter will be quite so high against a more resilient foe. Only time will tell…

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

Sapka burned with frustration. He knew the Hemonculus back in Comorragh’s pits would resurrect him, but it would be too late to reclaim the teleporter arrays. He winced in pain, smiling then through bloody teeth as the demonic hound worried at his flesh.

The blinding blast of a thousand screaming skulls had been like something from the sweetest nightmare, and his Wyches were gone. The wall of hounds had proven too much for him, though he would never admit as much when he was restored to life. Instead he turned his attention to the looming tower, and cursed as he saw the trails of demonic energy that were giving it new life.

The word drew the attention of the hounds, which had been feeding on the Wyches. He tried to draw his blade up to cut them down, but his arm was no longer there. With a gurgled choke, Sapka died once more as the hounds of Khorne consumed his flesh.