Angels Sanguine vs. Eldar 1850pts

This battle report is for the Aftermath Campaign. Click on the link and check it out. I find it to be good fun. Lord Sentikan, supreme commander of the Angels Sanguine, lead the 2nd Company in an assault on the planet Prox in order to defeat the enemies of the Emperor and restore order.

This game was the re-scheduled game against Silchias Ruin's Eldar.

1850 pts; Capture and Control; Dawn of War

My opponent ran the following list: (seer council jetbikes were proxied with foot models)
-Farseer, Jetbike, Forturne, Guide
-5 Warlocks, destructor, enhance, witchblades, jetbikes
-Autarch, Jetbike, Laser Lance, Mandiblaster
-5 Dire Avengers, Wave Serpent, T/L Scatter Lasers, Shuriken Cannon, Star Engines
-8 Dire Avengers w/ Exarch, Diresword & Pistol, Bladestorm and Defend, Wave Serpent, T/L Shuriken Cannons, Shuriken Cannon, Star Engines
-8 Striking Scorpions w/ Exarch, Claw Weapon, Wave Serpent (Falcon Proxy) w T/L Shuriken Cannons, Shuriken Cannon, Star Engines
-8x Warp spiders w/ exarch, dual spinners
-Fire Prism w/ holofields
-Fire Prism w/ holofields

I ran my usual list:
-Dante
-Corbulo
-Death Company, Rhino with Extra Armor
-Furioso Dreadnought, Death Company, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor
-Assault Squad, Powerfist, Rhino with Extra Armor, Pintle Storm Bolter
-Assault Squad, Powersword, Rhino with Extra Armor
-Assault Squad, Poweraxe, Rhino with Extra Armor
-Tactical Squad, 10 men, Lascannon, Meltagun, Rhino with Extra Armor
-Attack Bike, Multi-Melta
-Attack Bike, Multi-Melta
-3x Baal Predator, Pintle Storm Bolter, Sponson Heavy Bolters, Extra Armor

My opponent won the roll-off and passed me first turn. So, I decided to deploy my Tactical Squad in their Rhino on my objective. I reserved only my Assault Squads. Everything else would come on in turn one. My opponent was faced with a difficult decision. He was running a Jetbike Seer Council with an Autarch. However, he could not start both HQs on the table together. We all know that the Seer Council needs to start on the table to get fortuned up. He deployed his small Dire Avenger Squad in Wave Serpent on his objective. The Seer Council was deployed behind the ruins directly across the table from my Tactical squad. His Autarch would come on during the first turn along with everything except for his Warp Spiders (reserved). The pictures presented were taken at the end of each turn.

Top of 1: I turbo-boosted two Attack Bikes on the right side of the table headed towards the Wave Serpent holding an objective. 3 Baal Predators enter at cruising speed headed toward the center of the table. I chose a route for them which would both provide cover and allow them to react to either side of the table as needed. I brought Dante, Corbulo and DC, and Furioso on near my objective. Night Fight rules prevented me from shooting the Lascannon at the Wave Serpent.

Bottom of 1: Silchias brought on two Wave Serpents and the other large Dire Avenger Wave Serpent near my objective. Fire Prisms fired on my Tactical Rhino and DC Rhino. Both shots scattered off. The Jetbike Council turboed across the table edge toward the center of the table in order to allow the Autarch to join the unit. Striking Scorpions entered the table and moved laterally flat out toward the right side of the table to gain a cover save. The Wave Serpent on his objective wounded one Attack Bike.

Top of 2: Reserve rolls turned up two Assault Squads. I drove them onto to the right flank at cruising speed. They would be heading toward my opponents objective. I moved the Attack Bikes up and fired Multi-meltas on the Wave Serpent holding his objective. One miss and one Vehicle Explodes. The explosion killed one Dire Avenger. I rolled for over-charged engines on all three Baal Predators. Two stalled, but the farthest right passed the roll. I moved it up 6". I fired killing the remaining Dire Avengers on my opponents obective. The other two Baals were out of range for everything. I moved Dante, DC, and Furioso up 6" waiting to counter-charge whatever approched my objective. I fired the Rhino storm-bolter to no effect.

Bottom of 2: My opponent began encircling my objective. He moved his remaining Dire Avengers in their Wave Serpent to the left hand corner in the rear armor arc of my Tactical Rhino. Fire Prisms continued firing on Rhinos resulting in a Crew Shaken on the Tactical Rhino. The Jetbike Council turboed into the ruin directly across from my objective. The Striking Scorpion Wave Serpent moved flat-out plus the star engine move in order to arrive between my Tactical Rhino and the Jetbike Council.

Top of 3: Reserve rolls turned up the remaining Assault Squad. I drove them into the ruin on my objective behind the Tactical Rhino. On the right, I moved the Assault Squads at cruising speed towards my opponents objective. The Attack Bikes turbo boosted to the center of the table. Baal Predators moved into range and LoS on the Jetbike Council. I unloaded the Tactical Squad from their Rhino and moved them toward the Jetbike Council. I unloaded the DC and moved them around the other side of the intervening Wave Serpent toward the Jetbike Council. Dante jumped up and joined their squad. Corbulo stayed in the Rhino and drove over to offer Furious Charge to everyone. Furioso moved up following the DC. I fired 3 Baal Preds, 14 Bolt Pistols (DC and Tactical), and the Perdition Pistol into the Jetbike Council. I killed 3 Warlocks. The Furioso fired on the Scorpion Wave Serpent I aimed the heavy flamer template so that it fell over the Autarch in Jetbike council as well. Furioso's shooting did nothing. So, Furioso assaulted the Wave Serpent exploding the vehicle. The explosion killed one of the Striking Scorpions. The DC and Dante declared assault on the Jetbike Council. I rolled too low on the difficult terrain test and could not reach close combat. I decided to declare the Tactical Squad assault without their help. Tacticals made it into CC. They killed one worlock and put one wound on the Farseer. The Jetbike council killed two marines. The assault was a draw.

Bottom of 3: Reserve rolls produced the Warp Spiders. They landed, via deep strike, behind Furioso and fire into him resulting in two destroyed weapons and an immobolize. He was now effectively useless. They used their special warp to move into a ruined building during the assault phase. The Striking Scorpions fired on and assaulted Dante and the DC. This resulted in 6 dead Striking Scorpions and 1 dead DC. The Exarch remained alone and passed his morale test. Jetbike council killed a couple of Tactical Marines, but they held. A Wave Serpent wrecked my Assault Rhino on my objective. The Marines piled out the rear door and passed the pinning test.

Top of 4: Assault Rhinos on the right flank continued at cruising speed toward the enemy objective. 2 Baal Predators moved into position and unloaded everything on the Warp Spiders destroying them completely. The last Baal Predator moved to complete a triangle of tanks around my objective. The Assault Squad which had been forced from their Rhino last turn embarked into the empty Rhino in the same ruined building which had once held the Tactical Squad. The Assaults continue. Dante and DC kill the Scorpion Exarch. Jetbike Council kills another Tactical Marine, but they hold. The Attack Bikes move from the center of the table to fire on a Fire Prism resulting in a crew stunned.

Bottom of 4: Large Dire Avenger Wave Serpent moves flat out from my objective toward the enemy objective. A Fire Prism hits but fails to penetrate. Jetbike Council kills another couple of Tactical Marines, but they hold.

Top of 5: Assault Squads on the right flank park their Rhinos on top of the enemy objective. I move 2 Baal Predators and 1 Attack Bike over to attack the only remaining Wave Serpent. They achieve an immobilized result. The Wave Serpent moved flat out previously. So, the immobilize turned into a wreck. 1 Attack Bike fired on a Wave Serpent, shaking the crew. Dante and DC finally get to join the CC with the Jetbike Council and Tacticals (something I intended to do in the top of turn 3). By this time, there remained only the Veteran Sgt. and 1 Tactical Marine. At the end of this combat, the Autarch was all that remained of the Seer Council.

Bottom of 5: The Dire Avengers moved closer to the enemy objective. Shaken Fire Prism moved toward the right side of the table. The other Fire Prism fired on the Assault Squad Rhino which was holding my objective shaking the crew. The CC continued. The Autarch died; the Jetbike Seer Council was no more. All that remained was Dante, 3 DC, and the Tactical Squad's Veteran Sgt. standing in the remains of his Xenos enemies.

The game ended on turn 5. The result: Angels Sanguine: 2 objectives, Eldar: 0 objectives.

My analysis: Well, the game turned out better in the end than I thought it would about the second turn.

I was able to create just the tar-pit that I needed on the third turn. The tar-pit was designed for the Seer Council. However, the tar-pit ended up swallowing the Seer Council, a Wave Serpent, and the Striking Scorpions. I was able to get the charge, and I brought along the Tactical Squad for more wounds.

One of my goals was to keep the Seer Council from destroying my Baal Predators. That goal was a success. The Baal Predators' firepower served me well throughout the game.

Another important factor was the destruction of one troops selection and its transport on the second turn. After that, the pressure was really on my opponent. He had one troops choice, and I had four troops choices. Furthermore, there were only 2 objectives.

The decision to reserve only the Assault Squads proved beneficial. This goes back to another battle report in which I reserved everything for a Capture and Control mission. I was only able to squeak out a draw. This method (using all elites, hq, and heavies to defend my objective) made it much easier to go for the win. As a matter of fact, Silchias stated after the game that the most difficult thing was trying to get me off of my objective.

The longer I play this army list without making changes to it, the more comfortable I feel with the list on the table. I would suggest using your list in several games (at least 5) without making changes to it. The problem may not be the units (like my attack bikes). It may be that you haven't learned to use them together properly (as in my case).