"Commander Shera leads a Cadre combing through the desert looking for any more human rebels when one of O'Shera's pathfinder scout units report that they've found something of interest. O'Shera quickly plumments towards the ground to see just for himself the rare sight of a downed Wraithlord with its mighty Soulgem still attached. The Eldar must be close, for O'Shera had learned quickly how zealous the Eldar were about these gems of theirs.
Immediately the commander calls in for the rest of his Cadre to be deployed as he watches the Eldar manifest from some invisible location. This would most definitely be a bloody fight as the Eldar try to reclaim the soul of such a legendary fighter and the Tau forces who unwillingly must fight another foe after just claiming this world."
First ever battle report and I must say this was definitely an interesting battle. The game was a classic match of Relic, 2000 points, nightfighting on turn one and Eldar moving first. Also, it's not very WYSIWYG, so don't judge much of the equipment from the pictures. I'll try to describe the things that might have questionable loadouts (Wraithlords especially).
Deployment:
My Eldar foe tried to cover his more vulnerable units behind Wraithlords, skimmers and cover praying to Khaine that I didn't blow up their transports on turn one. Inside the Wave Serpent is a squad of Fire Dragons and hiding within the confides of the Falcon is the Warlock squad and the second Farseer.
Turn 1:
The Eldar move in as fast as they can trying to optimize their time before I started hailing down pulse fire. My opponent had hoped to close the melee gap as soon as possible, claim the objective and strike down my Ethereal. Guns are a blazing and the Rangers try to pinpoint enemy personal to take out, but nothing really succeeds due to Night Fighting.
I advance as well trying to get within rapid fire range as well as melta range. The tanks fly forwards, while the Suits jet towards the foe with shots being sprayed every which direction. Pathfinders highlight priority targets. With the aid of the markerlights; the Riptide, and the Hammerhead blasted down one of the Wraithlords to the ground like his previous incarnation.
End of turn one.
Turn 2:
It was like a sudden warp anomaly just opened up now because stuff is dying left and right.
The Eldar manage to eliminate the Ethereal's Fire Warrior retinue Luckily he was able to find refuge; the Ethereal hid within the squad that was previously to his left. The Falcon and the remaining Wraithlord (he was toting a Scatter Laser and Suncannon) fire a barrage upon the Riptide until only 2 wounds remained.
Initially, the plan was a full out charge with the Farseer (the Warlod was inside the Falcon) guiding from the front on his way to kill Commander Shera. O'Shera's men were doomed, shot by Fire Dragons, the Wave Serpent (twin scatter lasers) Swooping Hawks and the Farseer's very own Avenger squad. O'Shera lived up to his reputation and withstood the blasts, but his squad fell around him. The veteran Commander did not faulter under the enemy's fire, but he sure did run away.
O'Shera's forces planned to counter the Eldar offensive and try to maintain formation although so many members of the Fire Caste were lost. The Ethereal bellowed over the booms of war to instill his comrades with a lessened respect for having full mags. He commanded a Firestorm while high priority targets were marked and then taken out (or really badly damaged). The Falcon, Wave Serpent, Farseer, Fire Dragons, Wraithlord and the Farseer's very own Dire Avenger squad fell beneath the might of the Greater Good! Somehow I was able to finish the Wraithlord off (after I shot him with the Monster Hunting O'Shera, 3 fusion blasters and the Riptide) with a lucky Hammerhead shot. If that thing didn't die, it would have charged my lines with it's Ghostsword and would have turn through my formation.
End of turn 2 was a horrific sight for both Warlords.
Turn 3:
The Eldar have now lost their sense of self-preservation in a bizarre frenzy to recover the sacred Soulgem of their befallen hero. No lesser be shall disgrace such an elegant artifact of the Eldar with their savage hands! The Lone Fire Dragon blew the heck out of one Piranha and then slapped a grenade on another while grinning at the third one. Every last ranged shot is focused on O'Shera to cripple the Tau's command chain, but his armor proves too powerful.
O'Shera heads the charge towards the Soulgem. Fire Warriors unleash another volley of pulse fire as the Ethereal instructs them to have no restraint. Once again, markerlights guided the army to identify key targets for elimination; Sniper Drones eliminated the Banshees in one turn (with four wounds left over), the Hammerhead loaded up the submunition round and exterminated the Dire Avenger squad whose Exarch was yielding the Diresword. The Swooping Hawks fell victim to the pulse barrage, the Commander vaporized the lone Dire Avenger holding the Soulgem while the Riptide and Fire Warriors end the Guardians.
Faylin had her sights focused on O'Shera, but she failed in the end.
With so few troops left, the Eldar decide to flee the battle to fight again.
"Farseer Faylin realizes the toll that they've paid for this legendary hero's soul and begins to rethink the battle. Only she, two Warlocks and the Rangers remain. Was this Soulgem really worth all of these lives she wondered. She looked back at her dwindled Warlock council and they nodded in response. The battle was over and now they must retreat before they too become retrievable objects under the hoof of some naïve Tau."