Epic Space Marine 2nd Edition + Eldar vs Chaos

Epic Space Marine 2^nd Edition

Monday night, game night! Epic Space Marine 2^nd Edition. A battle report from Dave Hunter of the Tamahere Officers Club.

Eldar (Dave) vs Chaos (Blair and Darcy): 3050pts

The Eldar waited in their fortified positions within the ruins of the Imperial city. The forces of Chaos had fallen back after their previous skirmish, however the Farseer’s had predicted that their ancient foe would return, and with increased numbers.

The Warlocks that had led the Eldar force in the previous engagement had been needed elsewhere, but they had sent a unit of Exarchs and a mighty Phantom class titan to bolster the defences.

They felt the coming of the enemy. The massive footfalls of a Warlord class titan carried to the defenders, and a low rumbling noise accompanied it. Fear ran through the guardian squads as the Chaos horde appeared from between the ruined and crumbling buildings. The Chaos God of blood and war, Khorne had decided that the time for subtlety had past. This new force was lead by a horrific Bloodthirster and a mechanical monstrosity possessed by a greater daemon. A Lord of Battle. As the horde advanced towards the Eldar lines, a bloodcurdling roar of defiance and rage came from the midst of the Eldar defences. A shimmering in the air coalesced into the giant form of the Eldar Avatar and the momentary fears of the defenders were banished as they looked upon him...

Forces of Chaos

Alaitoc Craftworld Force

Eldar Forces awaiting battle

Turn 1

The Chaos forces made the first move. On the left flank, the rage of the Banelord titan got the better of it and it charged forward to the edge of the river. Two units of chaos dreadnoughts advanced with it, to provide support.

Banelord titan and Bloodletters charge towards the bridge

In the centre, Cannon of Khorne readied themselves to unleash the unpredictable energies of the warp against the Eldar lines. The Bloodthirster and Lord of Battle advanced forward with a screen of Chaos Marines in front of them, while a unit of ravening Bloodletters charged for one of the bridges.

Lord of Battle, Bloodthirster and Chaos Marines advance

A trio of Chaos Landraider tanks advanced towards the bridge on the right of the Eldar line, but were swiftly passed by a thundering pack of Juggernauts which raced onto the centre of the bridge. A unit of Landspeeders charged past them all and flew over the buildings into the heart of the Eldar defences.

Juggernauts of Khorne secure the bridge (or do they?)

Landspeeders encounter the Eldar Exarchs

The Eldar response was immediate. The Avatar moved towards the nearest Landspeeder, grabbing it from the air and smashing it to the ground. The Exarchs charged to support the embodied spirit of the Alaitoc Craftworld’s War God, and destroyed the remaining four Landspeeders.

Wave Serpents loaded with Striking Scorpions sped towards the Landraider squadron on the far side of the river. The hapless Juggernauts of Khorne could only watch in dismay as the warp wave of the first Serpent flowed towards them. The impenetrable shield threw the Juggernauts to either side like toys, and they toppled into the river to sink beneath the polluted surface, never to be seen again. Reaching their destination, the Wave Serpents pushed aside the Landraiders before disgorging their cargo of Scorpions. Despite their mandiblasters being ineffective against the thick armour of the Landraiders, the Scorpions managed to destroy two of the mighty tanks. The phantom titan charged forward, its holo field causing it to all but disappear in a riot of multicoloured fragments as it went. It weaved it’s way gracefully between the buildings and entered the river to capture the bridge. A unit of Vyper Jet Bikes shot past the Phantom, and swept around a large building.

Juggernauts of Khorne having a bad day

Phantom and Scorpions at work

Meanwhile, in the centre of the Eldar position, a unit of Vibro-cannon had been setting its sights on the Banelord titan. Lines of rippling force shot forward along the ground from the three support weapons. The beams all converged around the Banelords right leg, causing the ground to shake so violently, that the leg was damaged.

In reply, thunderous roars issued from the Cannon of Khorne and three blasts of warp fuelled energy fell amongst the second Vibro-cannon battery. From the resulting dust and smoke issued three more lines of earth ripping vibrations. Miraculously, none of the cannons had been hurt in the blasts, and their return fire again targeted the Banelords already damaged right leg. The mighty titan tried to move away from the attack, but the damaged leg could no longer support its prodigious weight. The leg buckled under it and the Banelord toppled forward into the swirling waters of the river.

Vibro-cannon handiwork

Shuriken, lasgun and missile fire reached out from the Eldar lines, searching to further slow the advance of the enemy. Falcon Grav-Tanks popped up from behind cover to further harass the enemy with powerful lascannon blasts. Several squads of Chaos Marines and a number of dreadnoughts were destroyed in the hail of shots. Monofilament fibres from the Doomweaver squadron dropped slowly amongst the enemy forces, but failed to find any victims.

Victory points: Eldar – 34, Chaos – 15

Turn 2

Despite the staggering initial losses, the forces of chaos took the initiative and threw themselves towards the Eldar lines yet again. Blood for the Blood God.

The remaining Landraider backed up to give itself room to fire at the insubstantial form of the titan moving towards it. The Bloodletters charged across the bridge and the Dreadnoughts, Marines, Lord of Battle and Bloodthirster advanced again, while the Cannons of Khorne readied themselves for another volley of shots.

Bloodletters charging over the bridge

Greater daemons advance

The Striking Scorpions climbed back into their transports, which proceeded to sweep around a building in an attempt to distract the Greater Daemons. Their warp waves crashed along the sides of the building, knocking out the last of its foundations and causing the whole building to collapse into rubble.

Demolition squad

The Vyper’s raced along the rear of the enemies lines and ploughed into the back of the Cannons of Khorne, which were destroyed in the ensuing melee.

Vyper Jet Bikes attack the Cannon of Khorne

The swirl of colour that was the Phantom titan, advanced towards the last Landraider. Landraider and titan let fly with every weopon they had, and when the dust had cleared, both war machines were completely untouched.

Why you not die, little Landraider

In the Eldar centre, two units of Guardians left the shelter of their buildings and charged to more strategic positions. The squads immediately came under fire from the Chaos forces, with three squads being eliminated.

The Vibro-cannon batteries opened fire on the Lord of Battle. The first shot damaged one of the great machines wheels. As the Eldar watched on in horror, the power of the warp knitted the damaged pieces back together, as if it had never happened. The second shot failed to penetrate the thick armour of the Lords mighty brass and iron wheels.

Again the Eldar forces opened fire, bringing down the remaining Chaos Marines, a Bloodletter, and another couple of Dreadnoughts. The Doomweavers tried to target the Bloodletters, but again failed to find their mark.

The end (or is it?)

Victory points: Eldar – 48, Chaos – 15


With the decimation of their minions, the power started to ebb from the remaining daemonic forces. The daemons became more and more insubstantial before disappearing back to the warp. With no daemon controlling it, the Lord of Battle rumbled slowly forward onto the damaged bridge in front of it. A ragged cheer went up from the Eldar forces, as the bridge collapsed under the weight of the great machine and it crashed into the river. The remaining enemy were soon dispatched and the Eldar relief at the victory over their ancient foe was complete.

It was short lived however. Sensors now indicated a number of warp translocations occurring in the star system. Imperial signals were being intercepted on frequencies normally used by the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines. Although the Eldar had on occasion fought alongside these super human warriors, an incursion into human space, even to battle the forces of Chaos, would not be tolerated...

Hopefully Darcy and Blair aren’t put off too much by the one sided nature of this battle. There is a bit of a learning curve, knowing what units are best for what jobs, and getting the orders right is crucial. If the Banelord was given an advance order on that first turn, it could have offloaded all six of its havoc missiles before falling. Six high powered barrage templates across the Eldar line could have made a huge difference to the rest of the game. It could have taken out the vibro-cannons (although the damage was already done), or perhaps the Wave Serpents, Scorpions and Phantom could have been taken out of play.

The board is also a bit narrow, meaning that almost everything is in range from the get go. The terrain on the Chaos side is a bit sparse, making it difficult for the shorter ranged and close combat Chaos troops to get near enough without being turned to mincemeat. The dice were also not their friends on the night. If two of the Vibro-cannons from the second battery had of been removed from play by the Cannon of Khorne (which statistically, they should have), the Banelord would have survived the first turn. Anyway, hopefully Blair and Darcy enjoyed it enough to give it another go.



Dave.