Imperial Forces versus Eldar - Medusan Cluster Fracas

Emperor's Will
Dawn of War
5200 Points


An uneasy alliance of Iron Hands and Dark Angels combined to drive the Eldar from an abandoned hiveworld on the edge of the Medusan Cluster.

The Iron Hands had established a strongly fortified redoubt amidst the ruins of the hiveworld, hoping to either bombard them into evacuating the planet or lure them into a trap.

Their strategy worked almost too well. Alarmed by the arrival of a relic of the Great Crusade - a Warhound Titan - the Eldar sallied forth in a desperate attempt to sweep the Imperial Forces from the field. Led by a Revenant Titan and a Wraith Knight, and aided by a combination of walkers and heavy armour, the Eldar sent waves of Wraith Guard to destroy the Hands. Aware of the Guard's fearsome reputation and xenos weaponry, the Hands sought to forestall the assault by destroying the Guards' transports before they could disgorge their deadly cargo. Before they could complete this counter, however, they found themselves menaced by the Revenant - and a swarm of Eldar Psykers.

Undaunted, the Hands - led by Chapter Master Stronos - stuck to their guns. The transports were wrecked and the Guards scattered. Stronos then led his personal guard, together with a Librarius Conclave, directly into combat with the Revenant; and after a vicious assault the gargantuan construct was brought down.

Enraged, the Eldar Psykers sought to regain the initiative. The Warhound Titan was assaulted by one Psyker swarm, whilst another attacked and destroyed the Hands' aerial defences. Meanwhile, the surviving Wraith Guard regrouped and moved to trap Stronos between themselves, the Psykers and the Wraith Knight.

Stronos appeared to be in desperate straits - but appearances can be deceptive. On cue, the next part of his stratagem fell into place; and a Ravenwing Strike Force - that had been hiding close by - swept in to trap the Eldar between a hammer and anvil of Imperial steel. The Eldar continued to fight valiantly and inflicted grievous wounds on the Imperial Forces: after slaying the Eldar commander, Stronos himself was brought down in combat with the Wraith Knight. However, the intervention of the Ravenwing and their Black Knights proved decisive - the remaining Eldar Psykers were gradually overwhelmed, which freed the Warhound Titan to resume its punishing bombardment of the Eldar positions (ably assisted by Contemptor Dreadnoughts and Dark Talons). When the Wraith Knight finally succumbed to volleys of plasma fire, the Eldar hopes of victory disappeared - and their remaining forces quit the field.

Imperium: 6 - FB, STW, LB, Primary Objective
Eldar: 4 - STW, Primary Objective

Notes:

Experimental rules were used, limiting both sides to 25 warp charge points per psychic phase. The Iron Hands can activate psychic powers on a 2+, which made them a fair match for the Eldar in terms of generating/denying - the experiment was meant to speed up the Psychic phase. It seemed to do so.

Eldar attempted a new stratagem to break the mould of recent large point matches. This made for an interesting and exciting battle - if one in which the Imperial Forces always seemed to have the upper hand.

First Imperium victory in 5000+ battle versus Eldar!