This campaigns been slow going with only three games played so far, but I'm sure we can pick that up a bit. We decided to play a revised version of Hidden Archeotech (Hidden Artifacts) Scenario which hopefully solved some of the problems of the original.
APOLOGIES TO WAY OF THE WARRIOR FOR THE CLEARLY BIASED NATURE OF THIS REPORT: IT IS IMPERIAL PROPAGANDA AFTER ALL!
Rumours of a horde of Archeotech finds in this region lead the unit to cross the Fire River and enter enemy territory...'Xeno's, sir on the western auspex reading. Thousands of the them.'
'Hardly thousands trooper, estimate of between ten and fifteen, nothing we can't handle!'
'Yes sir, sorry sir, they never taught me to count proper at me Schola.'
'Right, (sighs) give the auspex to Winterledge for next time.'Initial deployment: The Catachans clustered on the eastern edge, close to two possible locations of the Archeotech hoard. The Eldar fanned out to the north and west. The aspect warriors of the eldar squad poised to attack the brave Captain Helios Jones in a sneaky xeno attack, typical of their treachery.
The eldar swept forwards from their starting positions to secure two of the five objective markers placed, though inexplicably went past a third to lay down some hurt on the brave Imperial Warriors.
The valiant Guardsmen secured the tallest building in the area with their flamer units, while 'Deadeye' Dexter their ace sharpshooter made for higher ground.
The eldar leader (known as an 'Exarch' ref. Ordosxeno5363.2GAELD) and his fiendish subhuman psyker pushed towards the open middle of their battlefield, where they clearly felt that they cowardly ranged attacks would be most effective.
The Aspect Warriors of the eldar pushed forward launched a tricky attack on Captain Jones, who was felled only to be protected by the brave intervention of one of his courageous troopers (QuShard - bottom left of pict recording), who stepped in front of his injured Captain and was promptly shredded by a hail of shuriken catapult fire (OOA). Commanding officer: Recommendation for a field commendation for extreme bravery. Administrata note: Unable to provide award at this time due to troopers wanton disregard for Administratum equipment, namely his armour and ranged weapon, which received damage during this act (Recommendation: One week solitary confinement when returned to barracks).
'Deadeye' Dexter climbed the rickety frame of the destroyed building, setting his sights on both of the Eldar's evil leaders, prepared to end both of their heinous lives.
Eldar scouts crept along the Southern flank, targeting the medic (who thought he was well safe). A critical shot from the scouts lasgun ended the medics involvement in the battle (IG 2:OOA, Eldar 0:OOA). The medics position was on the far right of the pict recording.
Further fire from the Eldar exarch and a second scout group, plus twisted psyker powers, wielded by their 'Warlock' knocked down two more of the Varangians. But so far they had simply been lulling the Xenos into a false sense of confidence before getting their revenge!
'Deadeye' reached the top of the building and secured a second of the objective markers for the IG. Meawhile a second tropper had put his life on the line to save his captain (knocked down on the bottom right of the pict, who had come under a continuing hail of shuriken fire from his position.
Objective markers: Eldar: 2, IG: 2.
OOA: Eldar:0 IG:3!
Now the trap was sprung! Leaping out of hiding a unit of the Varangians headed towards the Eldar Scouts looking to secure a third objective marker. Firing wildly the lieutnenant leading them got lucky and took on of the scouts out with a critical head shot, the Eldar scout going OOA.
Facing down the horde of powerful IG combat veterans the eldar scout did the only thing available to him and ran in the face of superior bravery and Faith in the Emperor!
Captain Jones and his standard bearer, pinned by Shuriken fire, could do little for the remainder of the battle except keep the Aspect Warriors busy for the final gambit of the squad (Commissariat annotation: Following this report we will be looking into the unacceptable level of insane bravery exhibited by the commanding officer in this instance - charging one aspect warrior, an exarch and two aspirants should be weel within the expectations put upon a combat veteran REF.NONBRAV13th. We will assign a Commissar to this squad at the first opportunity).
The last turn and the final gambit. Using his
red dot sight to target the Xeno warlock after several rounds of ineffectual exchange of fire with the Eldar Exarch, he shot. Critical Hit! Master Shot! OOA! This prevented the Eldar from sneaking back into cover and securing the final objective. Deadeye lived up to his name again!
Post Game Sequence:
2 objective markers each: I rolled the highest and secured the chest, gaining a power sword, 3 frag grenades, 11 credits (not too shabby!).
Eldar squad gained 75 credits, plus 12 credits from an IG corpse, remaining from a previous conflict in the area.
IG squad gained 85 credits, plus a lucky charm from a wrecked truck they came across while returning to base camp.
IG: One trooper KILLED, One trooper and the medic survived.
Eldar: Scout survived, Eldar Warlock KILLED.
Summary of the game: The IG got owned for most of it (with WOTW usual critical rolls). However, my luck returned towards the end and deserted WOTW, particularly with the last shot by 'Deadeye' before the end of the game. Post game he had no luck (and has yet to get himself a healthcare professional - spending it all on avenger sights instead!).
Summary of Findings:
1. I need to build more scenery over two storeys (and make what we have clear area terrain) if I want to play Catachans(Varangians) effectively.
2. I need to learn how to hide more often to get my flamers into action.
3. Shuriken catapults with avenger sights are awesome. Assault 2 24" range is hideous to play against even if the guys move and are -1BS. Way too powerful for a 1st game squad - they definitely need to be built up to.
4. The new version of this scenario (no details for now) resulted in a vicious close fought game, with lots of tactical play (including some eldar running away!), every objective fought over and was still exciting even in the post game.
Subject: Varangian Winter Campaign 3rd Game Laney's IG vs WOTW Eldar 
Sat Nov 13, 2010 5:25 am
WotW: Yes... one of the advantages of IG (or should I say disadvantages of Eldar)? The Eldar must be played in hit & run mode... take advantage of the speed! Did you climbed to take aim at Officers? No. You are still playing a 2D game... THAT is why Laney got the advantage. He climbed and sniped you!
