Colonel Dastaal, commanding officer of the 9th Tarrellian Regiment, let his eyes sweep across the icy plains surrounding him. He had just arrived here at East Defence Perimeter Point FL-23/7, also known as 'The two Towers', as the defences were constructed around two ancient stone towers, now heavily fortified and armed. This was a key point in the defence line, and he and the company were sent here to ensure it did not fall. He was expecting reinforcements at any time - if they would just arrive before those eldars attacked...

Scenario: Raid - Strongpoint Attack. As we wanted to play with 2000 points on each side, and to get a more 'battle-like' feel, rather than the usual raid, we decided to use the standard force organization chart, and chose the Imperial Guard to be the defenders, before selecting our forces.

As we were going to play the Strongpoint Attack scenario there was a number of things to keep in mind: the attacker only had to cover 18" (instead of the usual 24") to reach my deployment zone, and his Infiltrators could be deployed anywhere outside my deployment zone. This means that close combat was probably going to occur much sooner than I would like.

Elite and Fast Attack choices are held in reserve, and as I was going to defend, the close combat was probably going to be near my table edge, so these choices would move in and act as close combat attack or support weak points.

To lead my army I chose my battle veteran colonel, Dastaal. The command section included a standard bearer (so all units within 12" of this unit (and in this scenario this would probably be most or all of my units) would have Ld 9 and re-roll failed morale checks, making it very unlikely that they would flee). I equipped Dastaal and two guards with plasma weapons (and included a Medic to take care of those annoying 1s on the hit dice), as I suspected well armoured Aspect Warriors charging my lines.

My first Troop choice consisted of a full Platoon: a command section and five infantry squads. This would pretty much cover all the basic infantry I needed, and as I could deploy trenches etc. they would get some staying power for a change. All the squads got Missile Launchers, as this weapon could be used both against lightly armored infantry (S4 is nice against T3 eldars) and against vehicles (especially since the eldars don't use vehicles with more than AV 12).

As my second Troop choice I took an Armoured Fist Squad in a Chimera, which would be useful as a quick react force (something the Imperial Guard often lack).

In this scenario I had the option to include a turret emplacement as a Troop choice (because of the Fortifications-option), and as this is not to often the case, I didn't hesitate long to do this. And besides, an extra battle cannon is always nice...

To get more heavy ordnance firepower, and because I knew that my enemies would probably be within 24" most of the time, I selected a Demolisher. I had a tank entrenchment to deploy it in (as I had fortifications in this scenario), and being hull down this tank could take a lot of punishment (and would probably draw a lot of fire, thus increasing the possibility of my bunkers surviving the game).

I also chose an Exterminator. It is somewhat mobile and very nice against infantry (i.e. large Guardian Squads which would obliterate my guards if they got within 12").

Sentinels are allowed to start on table even when Fast Attack choices are not allowed, so I picked two of them, each armed with hunter-killer missile, able to shoot down a Falcon or Wave Serpent (hopefully).

As the anti-tank firepower of the sentinels is hardly going to be enough against the armoured skimmers and the occasional Wraithlord, I also selected two Anti-Tank squads armed with lascannons. One squad in each tower (bunker), and the defense would be more than a match for any Wraithlord or Falcon.

I still needed some close combat specialists to take care of the inevitable Aspect Warriors. I picked a squad of four Ogryns armed with ogryn close combat weapons, ideal to get rid of lightly armoured opponents. To take care of the more persistent squads, I use an Imperial Battle Robot (a kind of small dreadnought, created by Jervis' Vehicle Design Rules, see the Roster for details).

With the remaining points, I selected a Lightning Fighter (from 'Imperial Armour'), mostly for the fun of it, as I had never played with one before.

So my plan was simple: shoot at any enemies within sight, while my own forces are protected in trenches and bunkers. My close combat units start in reserve, ready to strike at any enemy who enters my deployment zone.

View Imperial Guard Roster

As my HQ choice I chose a Farseer. I often use a Farseer to lead a squad of Guardians, and give the Farseer Guide as a psychic power. A full strength Guardian Squad with re-roll misses is quite lethal.

Two Guardian Squads, full strength, was my Troop choices. Both armed with Bright Lances to shoot Nikolaj´s tanks. They should form the backbone of my army, and draw some fire from the more vulnerable squads.

My favourite unit is the Striking Scorpions. I always use them, and they would be even better in this scenario, since they could Infiltrate. I was looking forward to place the squad in front of his Guardsmen, and assault in the first round. They would probably destroy a squad or two, but when put under fire, they are quite vulnerable and I knew they couldn´t withstand a turn of fire from the IG´s, but hopefully they would last a turn or two

Since Nikolaj´s units would start in Fortifications, and Bunkers could be decisive, I selected a squad of Fire Dragons, with Fuegan, the Aspect Exarch. I gave them a Wave Serpent, to rapidly enter the battlefield, and destroy either the Bunkers or some tanks. It was the most expensive unit, so I hoped they would pack a mean punch.

As my third Elite choice I chose the Swooping Hawks. Their ability to come from reserve, and Drop Pod is very useful. They can throw their grenades at weaker units, and then hold stand against enemy units, which are not to powerful.

Jetbikes are always useful. They can swiftly move across the battlefield, and destroy weak units. Three bikes seemed to be weak, so I put five in the squad, and one of the jetbikes was armed with a Shuriken Cannon.

Dark Reapers are always useful for support fire, and if placed well, they could shoot some of his more important units, like the HQ, or Elite. They are quite expensive, put when used right they are worth the cost.

A Wraithlord is one of the best units in the army. It´s capability to be armed with almost any weapon is very useful, and it´s good in close combat as well. I gave it a Shuriken Cannon, and two Flamers, it should be a real anti-infantry unit.

A Falcon is always useful, with its Pulse Laser. I gave it some extra upgrades, Holo-Field and Spirit Stone, which made it harder to destroy.

I wanted to attack from all angles, swift and quickly destroy his troops. But I knew that if one of his Ordnance Weapons would hit, I would be up for a great blow. My greatest advantage was the Scorpions ability to Infiltrate, and they would hopefully draw the fire for a few turns, enough to allow my other units to reach the enemies.

View Eldar Roster

The Battlefield

The battle takes place on an Ice-world, and the terrain reflects this. Most of the battlefield consists of windy ice-plain with hills of snow and ice, with a single hardy pine forest. The pilllars of icecrystals are impassable to vehicles and provide cover to infantry. The defenders are protected by razorwire and trenches, and a tank-entrenchment (armoured vehicles are hull down, but cannot use sponsoon or hull weapons). The main fortifications are the two towers (counts as bunkers), which allow troops inside a wide fire arc, but are also very visible to the enemy.

Deployment

Imperial Guard:

The demolisher is deployed in the entrenchment in the front, hull down and able to reach most of the battlefield with its demolisher shells, despite the range of only 24".

The infantry uses the trenches and the hill for protection against enemy fire. The command sections are deployed in the center of the zone, to allow all troops to benefit from the Ld bonus. Near them is an infantry squad, shielding the HQ and ready to reinforce the lines where needed.

The turret is placed on top of the western tower (we agreed that if the tower is destroyed, then the turret is destroyed too. On the other hand it gives the turret line of sight to a great area of the field). An Exterminator and two Sentinels protect the left flank. These units are able to move and still fire a respectable amount of fire, and thus gives the opportunity of a flanking maneuver.

 I had deployed my units in cover, to allow them to move closer to the enemy, without being shot at. My Striking Scorpions should attack right away, and hopefully make a gap in Nikolaj´s lines. My main force was on the left, with my Fire Dragons seeking to destroy Nikolaj´s tanks and Fortifications, and the Guardian Squad as a back-up force.

Eldar Moved my units closer to attack zone, but within cover. My shooting phase: Many squads fired at the battle cannon turret, but didn't hit it until the 4th shot which destroyed it. My scorpions was the unit to watch this round having a free assault at the Guardsmen. Since they were superior in close combat, I had a good chance of destroying at least one squad, and they didn´t disappoint me. They even assaulted two squads, and annihilated them. Overall a quite good round, but the scorpions are in for a big blow.

Imperial Guard It didn't look to good at the right flank: I had lost two units before I even had my first turn! Fortunately I had lots of firepower ready to deal with the scorpions, and little else to shoot at. In shooting phase, six scorpions were killed, including the Exarch, who Dastaal took out with his trusted plasma pistol. This made things look much better at the right. The Falcon had made itself partially visible to the left tower and the unit in front of it, but the 3 lascannons all missed and the krak missile failed to do any harm. At the left the vehicles moved in position to fire at the Wave Serpent, but were unable to harm it. So I was looking forward to a lot of Fire Dragons in the next turn! The Demolisher scored a direct hit in the center of the advancing Guardian squad. Seven were killed in the blast! Guardsmen killed another 3, so the squad was greatly reduced in size. The right flank was starting to look much better, but I was worried for the left.

Eldar After my scorpions were demolished and I lost 10 guardians, I it looked bad. I didn´t have anthing you could call a right flank, so Nikolaj would be free to concentrate on my left flank. My Fire Dragons came within range of the tanks, and bunkers. Now was the time to show what the Fire Dragons could do. And they succeded. My Fire Dragons destroyed a Bunker (hit by Fuegan) and the Exterminator (taken care of by the rest of the squad - unfortunately the explosion killed 4 Fire Dragons, greatly reducing their strength). The walkers were destroyed by the guardians, aided by the Warlocks 'Guide' power. My Hawks swooped onto the battlefield, their grenades took care of some troops (including the standard bearer), and their fire forced a squad to retreat. What was left of my scorpions assaulted the guardsmen.

Imperial Guard With the entire left flank destroyed the situation was looking rather bad. Fortunately both the Ogryns and the Battle Robot arrived on the table. The Ogryns charged the Scorpions, thus relieving the Colonel, but failed to cause more than a single casualty. The Robot did much better. It killed two Fire Dragons with its heavy flamer, and forced them to fall back (being below half strength they was unable to regroup and would soon be out of the game). It then charged Fuego and killed him with a single blow, before it advanced towards the Swooping Hawks and engaged them in close combat. Except from the lascannons in the remaining tower, which destroyed two Jetbikes, no more casualties were inflicted. The Demolisher even managed to miss the Guardian squad completely with its Ordnance weapon. It was looking better, but I had only my Battle Robot to protect my left flank. That might well turn out to be a serious problem.

Eldar My Fire Dragons were forced to flee, after a succesfull attack. While retreating they were able to immobilise the Battle Robot. They had done their part. My Hawks kept the robot busy, and remarkably hold the ground against the Imperial Battle Machine. My Reapers was finally ready to fire, and they wiped Nikolaj´s platoon Comamnd Section. An anti-tank eas wiped out too, as the jetbikes and the Wave Serpent directed their fire against it. The Scorpions were finally destroyed, and the Ogryns swept towards the jetbikes. This battle was going to be a close one, with the bunkers as the decisive thing.

Imperial Guard As I feared my left flank had totally collapsed. On top of this I had a wave Serpent behind me and a closing in from the front. I chose to concentrate fire on the wraithlord before it reached my Demolisher. Two hits from the lascannons in the tower, and a krak missile from the battered 3rd Infantry squad destroyed it. The other infantry squad and the Demolisher inflicted only 3 casualties on the advancing Guardians. The Ogryns assaulted the Jetbikes and smashed them to pieces with their big clubs.Once again the Battle Robot failed to inflict any casualties to the Hawks (it hit three times, but then rolled three 1s!). It was looking bit better, but I was still in a lot of trouble.

Eldar My Guardian Squad fired against his Demolisher, but failed to damage it, since it was hull down. It had drawn a lot of fire, but I had not hit it so far. My Dark Reapers fired once more, this time at the Ogryns. 5 wounds were inflicted, but Ogryns are incredibly enduring, so only two were killed. My Falcon moved behind the Demolisher, and fired the pulse laser 3 times at the weak rear armour, but failed to do any harm. One of the Guardian squads fired their shuriken catapults and then charged an entrenched Infantry squad. The guardsmen fled, and were overrun, as the Guardians advanced further forward.

Imperial Guard Having survived the threat of 3 shots in the back from the Falcons pulse laser, I turned the Demolisher around to increase its chance of survival in the next turn. I concentrated fire on the falcon: the Demolisher fired its lascannon and two plasma cannons against its back, three lascannons were fired from the tower, and the remaining infantry squad fired its missile launcher, but the holofield and spiritstone saved the Falcon, and it didn't even get a scratch! The rest of the shooting was a succes, however. Dastaal fired his plasma pistol at the wave serpent, which made it crash on the icy ground. The left flank finally got some reinforcements in the form of the Armoured Fist squad. The Chimera drove up close to the guardians, and the guardsmen disembarked, with blazing lasguns. The front guardsman carried a flamer, which turned out to be highly effective against the large group of guardians, as he managed to burn 10 of them to death! The chimera and the lasguns took out another 3, and then the squad assaulted. The Farseer took a wound, but the guardians hold their ground. The remaining two Ogryns charged the other Guardian squad, and killed 2 enemies, but the guardians kept fighting. The situation had improved much, and seemed to be a very close game. All now depended on whether the remaining tower (and the 200 VP's was worth to only one of us) would survive the next turn or not.

Eldar This was my last chance to destroy the bunkers. My Falcon shot at the last remaining bunker. It was a penetrating hit, but I was very unlucky. A roll of 5 would have been enough to destroy the bunker, but the dice landed on 4, and that was my final chance. But my Dark Reapers destroyed the Chimera, so I gained some VP at the end.

Imperial Guard The tower barely survived, but the game was still going to be very close, so I had to destroy as many enemies as possible in this last turn. Unfortunately, my Lightning Fighter did not turn up (this is the first time I have played a battle with a unit in reserve for the entire game!). Inspired by his hit on the Wave Serpent, colonel Dastaal shot at the Falcon, and he hit the pulse laser. The Ogryns forced the Guardians to flee, but the Armoured Fist squad had to retreat off the table after having lost the close combat to the Farseer and his Guardians.

Conclusion

Result: Imperial Guard: 1730 VP - Eldar: 1514 VP

(Guards-)Man of the Match: Colonel Dastaal destroyed the Wave Serpent, a weapon on the Falcon and the Striking Scorpion Exarch with his plasma pistol, as well as killed a couple of Scorpions in close combat. Total VP worth: 222

One Shot Max Bodycount: An Armoured Fist guardsman managed to kill 10 Guardians with one shot from his flamer!

Survivor of the Match: The Falcon survived the game, despite that a total of 7 lascannon-, 2 missile launcher-, 2 plasmacannon-, and 2 plasmapistol-shots were fired at it.

That was a close one! Had Rasmus rolled a '5' instead of a '4' when the Falcon scored a penetrating hit on the tower in turn 5, then he would have won!

Looking back, the decision of using the standard force organisation chart instead of the normal 'raid' chart, was probably to my benefit, as it allowed me to take two additional Heavy Support choices, and one additional Elite choice. If I haven't been able to do this, I would have been forced to chose huge amounts of guardsmen. My deployment zone would have been very crowded, and it would have been necessary to keep some of them in reserve, thus greatly reducing their effectiveness.

But as it was, the game was very entertaining (as it is often the case with close games). And as shown in this game: even when you have fortifications, trenches and cover on your side, the firepower of the eldar is not to be underestimated!

An exciting game. It was very close right down to the end. The first two rounds went very well, but in the last rounds my troops suffered too much. The reserves that Nikolaj got in the end was very decisive. But my tactic worked quite all right. I was unlucky with my Fire Dragons. After they destroyed the Exterminator, 4 died after being hit by fragments from the vehicle.

But it´s a fun scenario, and can absolutely be recommended. The Imperial Guard is a formidable foe, when they can defend, and in this case, they even had entrenchments.