Aeldari Civil War! Battle Report

Josiah & Caelum go head to head before Sou

Strike Force - 1750 pts
Pariah Nexus Mission Pack
Primary Mission: Supply Drop
Mission Rule: Raise Banners
Deployment: Tipping Point

Aeldari Civil War!

With 1 week to go before Southcon 2025, Josiah and Caelum decided to flex their wargaming muscles one last time and go head to head with the armies that they intend to field for the annual Dunedin tournament.

Josiah brought his Biel-Tan Aspect Host list, featuring none other than the almighty Avatar of Khaine and two Phoenix Lords: Fuegan and Asurmen; each rocking his own transport and retinue of Aspect Warriors to fly in and perform hit and runs across the board. This army is all about hitting hard and fast when the right moment strikes, dealing incredible damage but falling over quickly if it gets caught in a bad position.

Caleum’s force was led by Yvraine, battling against her former fellow craftworlders alongside a triumvirate of Wraithlords and a cadre of insidious Drukhari warriors. If you thought that Aeldari were a tricksy faction, wait until you face the Devoted of Ynnead! This detachment requires an experienced player like Caelum to pilot, as the number of movement tricks they have available will leave your head spinning.

The mission was Supply Drop, which means that objectives are removed from the board as the game progresses. Objectives are worth big points in the late game; and with this knowledge, neither player wanted to overcommit their forces in the early rounds. While there was some jostling for the mid-board, both players were careful to hold back enough resources for later rounds.

Deployment

Both players deployed aggressively with their infiltrating Striking Scorpions for some much needed board control. Caelum’s scorpions postured on the side near the Avatar and Asurmen’s Wave Serpent, while Josiah’s 2 scorpion units threatened both the central objective and Caelum’s large Howling Banshee unit in his deployment zone.

Battle Round 1

Josiah won the roll-off for the first turn. Overwhelming Force and Assassinate were two unfortunate secondary draws that he wouldn’t be able to score in turn 1, and moving units on to primary objectives is always a risky proposition when playing as the Aeldari. This turn would be mostly about staging and preparing a counter-attack for when Caelum emerged from his hiding spots. Caelum’s 10-strong Howling Banshee unit has done terrible damage in previous battles between the two players, and so Josiah felt it prudent to strip their numbers a bit. He surged forward with his Striking Scorpions and charged courageously into the waiting blades of the Howling Banshees.

Scorpions vs Banshees
Howling Banshees have the Fights First special rule, which means even if you charge them, they get to attack you before you can hit them back. Normally, charging into them is a bad idea, but the Aspect Host detachment has a stratagem that allows brave Aspect Warriors to “fight on death” and get their attacks off before they eat the dust. The Howling Banshees minced the 5 scorpions in the blink of an eye, but in return the scorpions slew 4 of the banshees before their souls returned to their spirit stones. A worthwhile trade, in Josiah’s opinion.

Caelum’s turn 1 brought him out from hiding, with Wraithlords firing brightlances to bounce off the energy shields of the Biel-Tan transports. His two Dark Reaper units managed to strip a respectable number of wounds off the Avatar, thanks to some smart use of the Aspect Token mechanic to guarantee some extra wounds. The Avatar utilized the Aeldari’s Fade Back maneuver to go forwards instead of backwards, preparing to get into melee range on Josiah’s turn 2. The remnants of Caelum’s Howling Banshee unit surged onto a side objective, waiting patiently for any more warriors to challenge them, while his Fire Dragons postured behind some ruins, dissuading the Avatar from approaching the objective with their devastating melta guns.

Battle Round 2

Josiah’s turn 2 saw the Avatar surge forward with the Aeldari battle focus maneuver “Swift as the Wind”, which grants an extra 2” of movement to a unit. He intended to close the distance between himself and Caelum’s Wraithlord, who was positioned next to a score of juicy targets. The Avatar’s feast was not to be however, as the Wraithlord was but a ruse! Using the Devoted of Ynnead Lethal Intent rule, Caelum’s Wraithlord slinked away safely out of range from the Avatar’s charge at the end of Josiah’s shooting phase, and the Shard of the Bloody Handed God was resigned to redirect his ire onto a poor lone Venom that had dared approach the central objective.

Ynnari trickery
Josiah’s own Howling Banshees and Falcon with Fuegan moved to take down the rest of Caelum’s banshees, but were left stumped as the Banshees used their Lethal Surge rule to move into engagement with the Falcon after it shot them. This prevented the banshees from being targeted by Josiah’s other ranged units, with the only option being to take them down in melee (and once again charge headlong into Fights First!) It’s amazing how this detachment can force the opponent into sub-optimal trading patterns simply by utilizing clever movement.

The Avatar and mid-board scorpions charged the approaching Venom, with the Avatar cleaving it down in one fell swoop, and the scorpions swarming over the disembarking Kabalite Warriors. A prophetic use of the Sudden Strike agile maneuver allowed Josiah’s Striking Scorpions to flit around the back of the Kabalites, slay them, and then consolidate 6” into the Dark Reapers in Caelum’s deployment zone! You can really take your opponent by surprise once you master using all of the agile maneuvers available with the Aeldari.

A “Sticky” Death
Asurmen and the boys in blue popped out of their Wave Serpent faster than you can blink to gun down the poor Striking Scorpions who had parked up on the far objective, but as his follower’s blood splattered over the point of contention, the Aeldari God of the Dead claimed it as his own. With neither player wanting to commit to standing on an objective for long, the ability to sticky objectives when your units die on them was a massive boon for Caelum in this matchup.

Caelum’s turn 2 came out guns blazing, with his whole army opening fire and picking off a sizeable chunk of Josiah’s forces. The Striking Scorpions were blown away by a Swooping Hawk fly-by and the Avatar was brought down in a hail of gunfire. The Wave Serpent carrying Asurmen was melted to scrap by the Fire Dragons. Caelum was scoring big on his secondary missions.

Battle Round 3
Battle Round 3 saw Caelum’s forces swarming over the far board edge, while Josiah’s forces cleaned up the near edge. Everything was building towards an apocalyptic conclusion in the center of the board (which was the last objective to remain under the Supply Drop mission), but unfortunately, the battle had to be called early. Caelum had prior commitments, and the players had already gone over the 2.5 hour time limit they had set for themselves. Turns out when you both have out-of-phase shenanigans, each battle round requires a lot of thinking!

Caelum had a sizable lead going into round 4, and the objective Josiah controlled was about to disappear. Although Josiah still had some strong fighting units remaining, Caelum’s lead was strong enough that it looked likely he would win; therefore he was declared the winner!