| May 17, 2003, Rogue Trader
Tournament hosted by the Pittsburgh Iron Legion |
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Joe Strait - Space Wolves
Emissary Escort is a mission where the defender objective is to protect an emissary model that they are trying to transport into the enemy deployment zone. The attacker's objective is to kill the emissary. Deployment zones for this mission are 12 inches wide along the long edges of the battlefield. Victory points determine the winner with each side gaining VP bonuses for meeting their objectives.
Joe's Space Wolves army consisted of two full Blood Claws squads in rhinos, a Grey Hunter pack in a rhino, a Wolf Scout squad, and a venerable Dreadnaught with twin-linked lascannon. The army was led by a Rune Priest and a Wolf Lord that were kitted with lots of wargear. They were attached to the Grey Hunter pack. Each troop squad had a Wolf Guard leader with Wolf Tooth necklace.
Joe deployed his rhinos and venerable dreadnaught behind cover in the center of his deployment zone. The emissary model was attached to the Blood Claws squad because they had room in their rhino. The scouts were held in reserve so that they could enter the battlefield from the dark eldar deployment zone later in the game.
I deployed the Talos in the center of the dark eldar deployment zone flanked by a large warrior squad on the left and the dark lance squad in some ruins on the right. The other warrior squad was deployed to the right side of the dark lance squad. The HQ raider was deployed behind some trees on the right side of the battlefield. The Wyche raider was deployed on the extreme left side of the deployment zone behind a rock outcrop. The jetbikes were in the center of the deployment zone behind the warriors.
The Space Wolves got to go first and Joe moved all of his units their maximum movement toward the dark eldar lines. The venerable dreadnaught fired its lascannon at the Talos and gave it one wound.
During the dark eldar's first turn I advanced both of the large warrior squads towards the onrushing Space Wolves. The Talos advanced behind a large stand of trees in the middle of the battlefield to shield it from any more lascannon fire. The Wyche raider advanced to the rocky outcrop on the left side of the battlefield and hovered behind it. The HQ raider moved 12" forward so that it could shoot its dark lance at the rhinos in the center of the battlefield. The jetbikes used their turbo-boost to move 24" and surround a Blood Claws rhino on the right side of the Space Wolves formation. I fired all three dark lance shoots at the surrounded rhino but only managed to stun and immobilize it.
On turn two Joe rolled for reserves, but the wolf scouts did not arrive. He moved his remaining two rhinos adjacent to the large DE warrior squad on the left side of the battlefield. The Blood Claws/Emissary, Grey Hunter Pack & HQ's disembarked in position to assault the warrior squad. The venerable dreadnaught advanced toward the dark eldar lines. The dreadnaught fired its lascannon at the jetbike squad surrounding the immobilized rhino but the jetbike made its 4+ invulnerable save. The disembarked squads opted not to shoot so that they would get their full attacks in assault. The Space Wolves squads and HQ assaulted the large warrior squad en masse and decimated it while taking a few casualties in return. The lone survivor of the warrior squad failed his morale check and fled while the space wolf squads consolidated.
I responded to the Space Wolves assault by moving the Wyches, Talos and Dracon/Incubi into position to counter-assault. Unfortunately, I had to move the HQ raider such that it screened the immobilized rhino from my dark lance squad. On a positive note, the squad was able to shift targets and destroy one of the space wolves rhino with shots to its rear armor. The jetbike squad repositioned itself around the immobilized rhino/Blood Claws so that the bikes with blasters were shooting at the rear armor of the rhino. They were able to destroy the rhino as well as the Blood Claws squad trapped within it. The Wyche raider vaporized two Blood Claws with its disintegrator. During the assault phase the Wyches assaulted the Blood Claws/Emissary squad, while the Talos and Dracon/Incubi assaulted the Grey Hunters/HQ. Both assaults resulted in all of the Space Wolves models in the 2" zone of destruction being destroyed so there were no return attacks against the dark eldar. The HTH combatants made their 'pile in' moves and we moved on to turn three.
On turn three the wolf scouts came in from reserve and moved to assault the dark eldar dark lance squad in the ruins. The venerable dreadnaught advanced towards the large HTH melee but it was not close enough to join the fray. The dreadnaught vented its frustration by firing at the wyche raider with its lascannon and destroying its disintegrator. During the assault phase the scouts engaged the dark lance squad and traded casualties with them. The dreadnaught assaulted the Wyche raider, but was unable to hit it. The HTH melee between the Wyches and Blood Claws was over quickly as the Wyches destroyed every enemy model except the emissary. The Emissary failed his leadership and attempted to flee but the Wyches would not let him and 'piled in'. The Incubi/Dracon and Talos killed several more Grey Hunters with the loss of an Incubi and a wound to the Talos.
During the Dark eldar turn I moved the remaining large warrior squad in position to counter assault the space wolves scouts that were in close combat with the dark lance squad. The HQ raider moved in position to shoot at the rear armor of the Dreadnaught while the Wyche raider took a 24" move towards the Space Wolves deployment zone. The jetbikes were moved in position to shoot their blasters at the Dreadnaught as well. The combined dark lance and blaster fire was able to immobilize the Dreadnaught and destroy its twin-linked lascannon. In the assault phase the Wyches were able to kill the Emissary while the Incubi/Dracon and Talos killed the remaining Grey Hunters and the Wolf Lord. The Rune Priest failed his leadership test and fled the battle. There were jetbikes nearby so he was unable to regroup. The large warrior squad joined the melee with the wolf scouts and inflicted several casualties. Unfortunately, the scouts killed more dark eldar and forced a morale check, which the dark lance squad subsequently failed. The squad fled the battlefield, while the large warrior squad 'piled in' with the remaining wolf scouts.
Joe conceded the battle at this point because he only had a rhino and 5 models left on the battlefield.
This battle was a solid victory for the Dark Eldar. The coordinated counter-assault by the Wyches, Talos, Incubi, and Dracon overwhelmed the bulk of Joe's Space Wolves army in close combat. The other unfortunate twist in the battle was the loss of the second Blood Claws squad when their surrounded rhino was destroyed. Joe was unfamiliar with the transport rules regarding blocked access hatches and the loss of the squad was as much a psychological as a tactical blow.