Warhammer 40,000 Battle Report #60 – Eldar vs Thousand Sons

With the release of the new Fracture of Biel-Tan book, Brandon decided to break out his Eldar for a run with the servants of Ynnead. The Thousand Sons stand ready to oppose him, as war breaks out over the remnants of a frozen Imperial outpost.

The Armies

Call of Ynnead

Eldar – 2,000

Reborn Warhost

Farseer: WARLORD; Skyrunner Jetbike, Singing Spear, knows Spirit Hook, Unbind Souls,           Shield of Ynnead, Word of the Phoenix

Maugan Ra

Guardian Defenders: Scatter Laser, Warlock knows Conceal/Reveal and Enhance/Drain

Windriders: 2x Scatter Laser

Dire Avengers: two additional Dire Avengers; Wave Serpent transport with Twin Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-fields

Vyper: 2x Shuriken Cannon

Warp Spiders: Exarch

Wraithlord: 2x Bright Lance, 2x Flamer, Ghost-Glaive

Fire Prism: Holo-fields, Spirit Stones

Falcon: Bright Lance

Aspect Host

Dark Reapers: two additional Dark Reapers, Exarch; Starshot Missiles

Dark Reapers: two additional Dark Reapers, Exarch; Starshot Missiles

Fire Dragons: Wave Serpent transport with Twin Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-fields

The Seekers

Thousand Sons – 2,000

Grand Coven

War Cabal

Ahriman: WARLORD, Disc of Tzeentch; knows Tzeentch’s Firestorm, Doombolt, Flayerstorm,   Demon Shriek, Psychic Shriek

Sorcerer: Mark of Tzeentch, Veteran of the Long War; Force Staff, knows Tzeentch’s Firestorm, Boon of Mutation, Mental Fortitude, Shrouding

Rubric Squad: Aspiring Sorcerer has Melta Bombs, knows Tzeentch’s Firestorm, Doombolt

Rubric Squad: Aspiring Sorcerer has Melta Bombs, knows Tzeentch’s Firestorm, Breath of            Chaos

Scarab Occult Terminators: Sorcerer knows Tzeentch’s Firestorm, Siphon Magic, Endurance

Tzaangor Warherd

Sorcerer: Mark of Tzeentch, Veteran of the Long War; Force Staff, knows Tzeentch’s Firestorm, Breath of Chaos, Warpfade, Empyragheist

Tzaangors

Tzaangors

Tzaangors

Tzaangors

Legion Armory

Chaos Predator: Twin Lascannons

Legion Armory

Chaos Predator: Twin Lascannons

Legion Armory

Maulerfiend

Legion Armory

Maulerfiend

Legion Armory

Maulerfiend

After Action Review

The new worshippers of Ynnead promise to be a very interesting faction. Their Soulburst power makes them very difficult to predict, and it really makes the opponent think twice before deciding where his attacks will hammer home. Sometimes it will lead to an attack against a different target altogether, simply because you cannot afford to take the damage at that time that will come in against your units as a response.

This makes the Ynnead followers very unpredictable, and their army requires a level of finesse rarely needed in 40k. Your timing and distances are always going to remain important, and it seems some suicidal units may be in order. In particular I’m looking at the addition of rushing Dark Eldar units, just to force the opponent’s hand against them and provide extra actions for the Craftworld cousins.

With all that said, I think the Thousand Sons pulled out of this game too early. I think the damage they were set up to deliver in the following turn would have been enough to bring things back into balance, giving them a chance in the still-close Tactical Objectives game. Ahriman in particular was still set to be a thorn in the Eldar side, and I think a different charge target for the final Maulerfiend could have cascaded into keeping some of the Scarab Occult in the fight. I think he would have been better served by knocking out the Falcon. Sure, this would have triggered Soulburst and probably allowed the Dark Reapers to kill the Demon Engine out of sequence. Still, I think it would have been a good price to pay to get that mobile AP2 off the table.

The Aeldari aren’t finished, and will surely be returning to the Maelstrom soon. Stay tuned!