Last Game of 5th Edition

For my last game of 5th Edition I decided to bring out my ignored Eldar army, Michael came over and we played the Battle Missions Book mission, Infestation.  This represents the end of a Tyranid Invasion and the planet is destabilizing (as a result all area terrain is dangerous).  The Eldar deploy completely in one table-quarter and the Tyranids get the other three (though they can't deploy within 12" of my deployment zone.  In addition the Tyranids all get Stealth, and the Eldar all get Preferred Enemy.  I was really excited to play a different mission, as I am more of a thematic gamer, and don't rally like the standard missions in the book.

I won't go into all the details but the Eldar won 8 Kill points to the Tyranids 3.  The MVP's for the game were definitely the War Walkers who with Doom and Guide erased much of the giant Gargoyle  swarm and the Hive Tyrant.  They took a nice dent out of some Genestealers and the Zoanthropes as well and only lost a single weapon (they were nicely bubble wrapped and he didn't have any long range shooting).  The other was actually the Guardian squad.  They were fortuned up on the second turn and the Warlock and one normal guy actually survived a squad of hormagaunts and Genestealers assaulting into them.  That allowed me to focus fire on some incoming squads and probably won me the game in the end.

The Striking Scorpions were the biggest fail of the game.  Another screening Guardian squad would have been just as effective and cost way fewer points.  The Shining Spears were better than I expected, but just don't have enough attacks to do much for their point cost.  The Night Spinner was fun as well, but not better than another 3 War Walkers would have been.  In the future I would drop the Spears, Night Spinner and Scorpions and pick up two more Guardain Squads, a small unit of Pathfinders and 3 more War Walkers.

One problem the Eldar have with the Tyranids is the high initiative, something that they depend on to survive. The Tyranids on the other hand have trouble dealing with the massive amounts of fire (24 Strength 6 scatter laser shots, and 30 Bladestorm shots with doom and guide is rather disgusting).  I had a ton of fun playing, though I'm excited to see what 6th edition will have to offer.  

Eldar - 1997 Points

HQ: Eldrad Ulthran

HQ: Avatar

Troops: 10 Dire Avengers, Exarch (Bladestorm ;  Defend ; Power Weapon; Shimmershield)

Troops: 10 Dire Avengers, Exarch (Bladestorm ;  Defend ; Power Weapon; Shimmershield)

Troops: 10 Guardians (Scatter Laser)

               1 Warlock (Enhance, Singing Spear)

Elite: 10 Striking Scorpions, Exarch (Scorpion Claw)

Elite:   8 Harlequins (Harlequins Kiss)

            1 Shadowseer (Harlequins Kiss; Fusion Pistol)

            1 Troupe Master (Power Weapon; Fusion Pistol)

Fast Attack: 5 Shining Spears, Exarch (Skilled Rider ; Star Lance)

Heavy Support: 3 War Walker (2x Scatter Laser)

Heavy Support: 1 Wraithlord (2x Flamer; Missile Launcher)

Heavy Support: 1 Night Spinner (Holo-Field; Spirit Stones)

Tyranids - 1999 Points

HQ: Hive Tyrant (Lash Whip & Bonesword; Adrenal Glands; Implant Attack; Regeneration; Toxic Miasma; Wings; Leech Essence; Paroxysm)

Troops: 8 Genestealers (Toxin Sacs)

Troops: 8 Genestealers (Toxin Sacs)

Troops: 8 Genestealers (Toxin Sacs)

Troops: 12 Hormagaunts (Adrenal Glands; Toxin Sacs)

Troops: 12 Hormagaunts (Adrenal Glands; Toxin Sacs)

Elite: 3 Zoanthropes

Elite: 3 Zoanthropes

Elite: 8 Ymgarl Genestealers

Fast Attack: 24 Gargoyles (Adrenal Glands; Toxin Sacs)

Fast Attack:  5 Spore Mine Clusters

Heavy Support: Trygon Prime (Adrenal Glands; Regeneration)

Eldar castling in corner

Genestealers finishing munching on some Guardians

Avatar versus Genestealers 

Dire Avengers hiding on roof of building

End of game result