Dark Eldar vs. Renegade Guard Battle Report — 1500 pts. 4th/5th Edition

Sunday, June 30, 2024

Games Worshop Games

A platoon of the Malice Vow Boys has splintered off from the main fleet in search for much-needed fuel. As they attempt to siphon energy to take back to their forces, they are assailed by the forces of the Kabal of the Truth Perverted.

The Forces of the Malice Vow Boys

The renegade army is led by a mysterious commander known as el generalísimo— some sort of undead being who promises the forces of the Malice Vow Boys power in exchange for his protection. This ghoul is equipped with a power sword and given control of a command squad, accompanied by a field medic, an officer of the fleet, a vox caster, and a member of his retinue carries a heavy flamer.

The majority of the Boys’ infantry forces belong to the 1st infantry platoon, which is made up of a command squad with a vox caster and a meltagun. The command leads three 20-man units of Malice Vow Boy grunts. Each of these units has designated specialists that carry special weapons as well as a vox caster. This platoon also counts on the support of a heavy weapon squad equipped with three mortars. One of the infantry groups is accompanied by a chaos priest, whose zealous chants fill the infantry boys with fervor and a desire to get into close combat.

In addition, there is a unit of veterans, experienced killers who form part of the initial group of heretics who turned the mutants of the Malice Vow Boys into a proper group of Chaos cultists. They are equipped with a plasma gun and a flamer, but the entire squad has a penchant for destruction. They all carry meltabombs and the most privileged of them carries a demolition charge. This group will be delivered unto the field of battle upon a Chimera combat vehicle.

Last for the infantry, there is a pair of special units. A battle squad of psykers as well as an engineseer to look after the war machines of the Malice Vow Boys.

In terms of vehicles, the Boys have brought two hydras equipped with anti-aircraft guns. Finally, a pair of Leman Russ battle tanks bring the firepower. One is armed with a Vanquisher battle cannon and the other with a Punisher gatling cannon.

The Forces of the Kabal of the Truth Perverted

The Truth Perverted is harvesting innocent souls for their archon, and the shard of the kabal that chose to engage the Malice Vow Boys is known as the Twisted Talon and led by First Archdracon Anarkyss the Cruel.

The Archdracon (a junior Archon) is equipped with a power sword, a shadow field, and a random array of combat drugs. She will be escorted by a Sslyth bodyguard and three hungry Ur-ghuls, all which are mounted upon a Venom.

Two additional Venoms have been deployed unto the field, one containing a unit of 5 incubi, the other holds the Archdracon’s personal escort: a unit of five kabalite trueborn, each equipped with some kind of special weapon.

Two identical units of kabalite warriors are mounted upon two Raiders. Each boat is equipped with a dark lance and two of the ten warriors that make up each Raider squad is equipped with a special weapon.

Another Raider carrying a dark lance is crewed by a unit of ten Hekatrix Bloodbrides, the most elite and prized fighters of the Dark City’s arenas.

Finally, a squad of six Reaver jetbike riders will lend support by bringing additional anti-vehicle firepower and being able to reposition quickly anywhere in the battle.

Archdracon Anarkyss the Cruel makes a point that none of her army begins the battle with feet on the ground, because walking on the same ground as mon-keighs is beneath them!

Pre-game thoughts:

Truth Perverted:	“If the bikers and the boats go down, I have no more anti-vehicle weapons. So basically, I have to be very tactical with the way I use the boats.”
Malice Vow Boys:	“Every infantry in the army, including the veterans, are Toughness 3 babies.”
Truth Perverted:	“I’m looking forward to having a Strength 3 / Toughness 3 battle”

The Mission:

Your forces have come upon a low-security planet with an exploitable power source that will provide desperately needed fuel and energy to the bulk of your forces which are eagerly awaiting your return in another part of the sector. However, what should have been a simple pit stop has turned into a battle for survival as raiders from the Dark City have made planetfall and are on the prowl for a precious resource of their own — you!

Dark Eldar briefing:	Defender briefing:
“You heard the Archon — take back as many slaves as we can carry. Hey, I bet we’d get extra pay for that one right there!”	“No matter what happens, we need to siphon these power generators. Our mission depends on it! Hold back these attackers while we charge the power cells. Retreat is not an option!”

Mission Rules

In this mission, each player will score points through different means.

Dark Eldar scoring:	Defender scoring:
Your mission is to take out as many units as possible! Victory points will be scored as follow:	Your mission is to syphon the energy from the four power generators on the field!
Each time a unit is fully destroyed, earn VP equal to that unit’s points value divided by 50 (rounding up or down as one normally would). Before the battle begins, the defender will nominate one HQ unit from their forces. That unit will provide an additional 3 VP upon its destruction (add the bonus points after rounding.) Any vehicle that is still in the field but has received two penalties from the vehicle damage table will provide VPs as if it has been fully destroyed.	At the end of the turn, if there is at least one infantry unit with one model in base contact with the power generator, the defender will score 2 VPs per power node. If three or more generators are captured, the defender earns 4 VPs per power node. Any unit that is in melee combat, falling back, or pinned cannot syphon power from the generators.

Turn 1

The dark eldar have seized the initiative and they take the first turn. Knowing that any of the Guard’s big weapons could turn their transports into fiery wrecks, the vehicular forces of the Truth Perverted wait patiently behind cover. Raiders fire dark lances into the vehicles of the Malice Vow Boys, however they find it difficult to hit their mark from behind cover.

Suddenly, the unit of kabalite trueborn mounted upon a Venom see an opportunity. They direct their fast skimmer ahead of the rest of the kabal, and position themselves to fire three blasters into the front armor of the Leman Russ Vanquisher. The thick plates of imperial armor are no match for the blast of dark energy, which cuts through the vehicle like a hot knife through butter. The Leman Russ erupts into a fiery ball of destruction, debris landing near an infantry squad of the Malice Vow Boys and killing an unfortunate grunt who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The generalísimo, seeing the overextended Venom yells into his Vox communicator, “Bring it down! Bring it down!” and the nearest unit of Boys fire everything they have at the skimmer, successfully destroying it. Two of the kabalite trueborn that crewed the doomed vehicle do not walk away from the fiery crash. Sadistically, the Leman Russ Punisher attempts to avenge the death of his fellow Leman Russ crew and fires everything into the squad of kabalite trueborn. However, the gunner’s bloodlust affected his aim as he was only able to kill one additional dark eldar, leaving the squad of trueborn with only two members. Realizing they are in the crosshairs of the battle tank, the trueborn decide to run away! How are they planning to get back to the dark city?

Across the field, the pair of hydras fire everything at the Raider carrying the hekatrix bloodbrides. The cover which partially concealed the dark eldar vehicle could do little against the barrage of anti-aircraft firepower, and the Raider was instantly destroyed, killing five bloodbrides in the process! Mortars fall all around the bloodbrides, obliterating the survivors before they had a chance to recover from the crash.

All of the Malice Vow Boys’ infantry marches forward, heading directly to the power generators in order to complete their mission.

Score at the end of Turn 1:

Kabal of the Truth Perverted — 4

Malice Vow Boys — 4

Turn 2

Seeing the danger the Hydras pose for the army, Archdracon Anarkyss orders the Reaver jetbikes to flank the anti-aircraft vehicles. The drug-crazed bikers move at blinding-fast speed through the eastern flank of the battlefield, taking cover behind the wreckage of the Leman Russ Vanquisher. However, the Hydras are ready to deal with the flank attack and target their anti-aircraft weapons at the bikes, destroying half the unit with ease. It seems the advanced targeting system of the Hydras can track the jetbikes even when they use their turbo-boost. Realizing this, the Reavers begin to flee the battle.

On the western side of the battlefield, the kabalite warriors mounted on top of a Raider unleash a rain of poisoned splinters unto an infantry unit, causing them to flee the scene in panic. It should be noted the Raider attempted to fire a dark lance into the crowd of men and somehow missed! In response, the Veterans exit their Chimera and approach the Raider. They attempt to throw their demolition charge at it but miss. The plasma gunner also misses his shot. The squad decides they have to run into combat and plant their melta bombs, but the skimmer is too fast for them, and they are unable to bring it down!

Nearby, the Incubi dismount their Venom and charge into a different unit of Malice Vow Boys infantry. It’s 20 humans versus 5 eldar, but the skilled incubi are able to slice and dice their way through the crowd, forcing the unit to retreat — but not before a brave Boy was able to drive a bayonet between the plates of an incubus’s power armor, reducing their squad by one. The Leman Rush Punisher fires its gatling cannon into the Incubi, eliminating another eldar in a deluge of bullets. Seeing their numbers dwindling, the Incubi decide it best to run away from the battle.

Witnessing the melee emboldens the Archdracon Anarkyss to dismount, hoping to join a similar fray with a third unit of Malice Vow Boys infantry, however they are not close enough to reach the unit on this turn. For this error in calculation, the archdracon loses all their ur-ghuls to the guns of the Boys, but seeing the leader of the enemy forces march against him inspires el generalísimo to approach, wishing to engage in a leader-versus-leader duel.

The malice vow boys infantry are running away, but one of the units regroups and prepares to reengage the Kabal of the Truth Perverted. The commander is able to prevent a second unit from fleeing with his inspiring words. The third infantry group, however, cannot be inspired and decides to seek refuge away from the battlefield.

Score at the end of Turn 2

Kabal of the Truth Perverted — 4

Malice Vow Boys — 4

Turn 3

There are several skirmishes that occur across the battle, but most are insignificant to the outcome of the battle except the following two:

The generalísimo approaches the Anarkyss, trying to engage in melee combat. However, a nearby Venom and Raider unleash hell upon the Command Squad, leaving only the ghoulish commander alone. Did he truly expect a fair fight from the dark eldar? The general hides behind a nearby ruin as the Archdracon pursues, her sslyth bodyguard being wounded in the process. In response to the Raider attack on the Command Squad, the Hydras target it next. They are unable to bring it down, however they manage to stun the crew and prevent it from moving further, and ultimately destroying it in the next round of fire.

On the other side of the battlefield, the veterans remain disappointed by not taking out the Raider last turn. Therefore, they redouble their efforts. “Watch and learn, boys!” exclaims the veteran holding the flamer as he gets as close as possible to the Raider, engulfing the xenos vehicle in flames. This causes the Raider to explode, killing a veteran in the process, but also three kabalite warriors that crewed the skimmer. Suddenly, explosions fall all around both the kabalite warriors and the veterans as the mortar team tries to clean up the Raider crew. The veterans of the Malice Vow Boys hoot and holler even as their own men are blow to smithereens along with the eldar. The veterans destroy what’s left of dark eldar unit in the assault phase.

Score at the end of Turn 3:

Kabal of the Truth Perverted — 6

Malice Vow Boys — 8

Turns 4, 5, & 6

Anarkyss catches up to the generalísimo and engages in battle. On their first round of combat, there are misses all around with neither warrior able to wound the other. The sslyth falls in battle and emboldened to take out the Archdracon, a nearby unit of Malice Vow Boy infantry charges to aid their leader in battle. What they didn’t expect was that after warming up last turn, Anarkyss lands several blows on the skeleton general, destroying the unholy abomination with her power weapon.

The infantry attacks in order to avenge their fallen commander. Eleven strong men, emboldened by the priest who accompanies them, swing wildly. The Anarkyss the Cruel deftly dodges the flailing The Boys call combat, and the few attacks that come close to striking are thwarted by the impenetrable Shadow Field. The unit Malice Vow Boys, fearing that the enemy warlord is unkillable, turn to flee but are destroyed by the Archdracon on the retreat.

Unfortunately for Archdracon Anarkyss, the Leman Russ Punisher rolls around the corner and fires its massive Punisher gatling cannon at the Toughness 3 eldar. The shadowfield protects its bearer for a few moments, but it is soon overwhelmed by the barrage of shots and Anarkyss the Cruel is felled just a few yards from where the generalísimo was slain.

With only a few models left on the table, and no realistic way to stop the infantry of the Malice Vow Boys from syphoning the power nodes, the imperial guard spends the last turn farming victory points, bringing the final score to:

Score at the end of the game:

Kabal of the Truth Perverted — 15

Malice Vow Boys — 25

Post-battle discussion:

Malice Vow Boys:	"I think the MVP is maybe the hydras. They blew up enough transports that it messed with your plans pretty good."
Truth Perverted:	"My vote for your MVP is the mortar guys, especially turn 1. The wyches may have run into battle, but they were behind cover and you just blew them up. Two units of kabalite warriors were also blown up."
Malice Vow Boys:	"They couldn't have done that without the hydras blowing up the ship in the first place. The MVP is the combo of [mortar] + [whoever blows up the ship]."
Truth Perverted:	"I will say the hydra are a very strong contender for MVP because every single turn they killed something. Pretty much every turn they had impact even though they barely even moved."
Malice Vow Boys:	"I also want to say kind of an MVP are the troops who stood their ground. They did stuff, they were in the shit."
Truth Perverted:	"I think a candidate for the MVP would be the company commander's squad who prevented an infantry unit from running away. Officially you have to give it to one unit, because that might affect your next battle."
Malice Vow Boys:	"Let's do the Hydras, they can get upgraded with a name. Instead of being the hydras they'll be the serpents or something."

Malice Vow Boy's MVP:	Truth Perverted's MVP:
Hydra unit because it was relevant every turn.	Kabalite warriors because they made multiple infantry units run away.
Malice Vow Boy's LVP:	Truth Perverted's LVP:
Psyker battle squad because they had a chance to shine, and they blew it by failing their psychic test.	The Raiders because not a single dark lance actually hit anything.

Thanos Scene

The Dark City. Upon the highest spires evil schemes are hatched by the dark lords that paticipate in the highest levels of Comorrite society. In one such black spire is the fortress of the Kabal of the Truth Perverted. Second Archdracon Excrucia the Flenser has been summoned to Archon’s throne room. She enters the dark chamber, kneeling in deference and addresses a throne cloaked in shadow, her gaze not daring to raise from the cold floor,

“Another bountiful slave harvest is completed, my Archon.” After a brief, uncomfortable silence, the voice of the Archon speaks from the darkness,

“Bountiful, but not flawless. The Twisted Talon shard marred what would have been a legendary harvest. If only Anarkyss hadn’t fallen in battle…” the Archon says wistfully before their tone turns to one of anger, “I’d torture that fumbler for an eternity, but I won’t describe what I’d do here since this is a family-friendly battle report!”

Excrucia gulps in fear of receiving the Archon’s wrath, while adding, “It would be a fitting punishment for someone who dared to get too cocky during a raid.”

The Archon smiles in the darkness, unseen by anyone in the room because of the shroud of shadow that envelops the throne, “Exactly,” the Archon answers, “Now go back down to that cringe planet and make those hon-keighs pay for wrecking my ships. Do this, and you may find yourself filling the post that Anarkyss was too incompetent to hold.”

“It shall be thus.” Excrucia answers, quickly rising and exiting the room before the Archon’s whims turn against her and she ends up paying for Anarkyss’s failure.

Outside, Excrucia’s retinue of bodyguards awaits her return. The Archdracon marches quickly as the bodyguards form a perimeter around her. “Gather the crew.” She orders, “We have hon-keighs to fry.”