Dark Angels vs. Dark Eldar

It was very dark. Grim dark.

2000 points

IG Battle Mission: War of Attrition

Table halves deployment, recycling units - troops only, victory points

Final in 5 rounds: DA victory - 1415 DA to 1305 DE

Dark Angel List

HQ

Belial, Apoth
Chappy

Elite

Ven Dread
5 Vets w/Razorback

Troop

2 x DW Terminators
2 x Tactical Marines- one with rhino

Heavy

Whirlwind
Devs - 2 ML, 2 HB
LR

Dark Eldar List

I'll let Mike fill in the blanks if he gets a chance, but he noted that it was more or less what he used against Bill's daemons. 6 Troops in all, 2x Witches, Bikes with 2+ Invul Lord., and a couple terminator-killing heavy support choices.

Summary
DE played the role of IG, so they went first and per mission rules were allowed to deploy at the half field line - DE were already assaulting in turn one - YES, turn one - not good for DA's devastators, who never fired a shot. It was a bloody day from the start.

Witches unloaded some nasty attacks bolstered by a slew of warriors, popping drugs as they went. The whirlwind earned it's points back from the get go, halving a unit of warriors (the one unit with like 4 dark lances mind you) and sending them falling back, unable to regroup. Though tied up in combat, Devs managed to stay along for a round or so with the help of some counter attacks. Chunks of both armies were fighting bloody combats almost from the start - and the Dark Eldar would have it no other way.

Belial finally succumbed, he and his squad held combat for at least a couple rounds but the DE lord ripped into what was left of the squad with abandon - even taking a wound from ODing on his combat drugs.

With the Devastator's heavy weapons silenced from the start, the terminators were forced to play anti-armor with their CMLs. Two squads of terminators recycled near DE heavies, their CMLs only manage to down one however - which would turn out to be a grave mistake. The other heavy earned vengeance by decimating one squad down to a man, with two squads of warriors finishing the job - an easy 245 pts. (the warriors had recycled as well, basically right next to the terminators).

The game ended in 5. Had it gone on, it looked like it would have turned back towards the DE's favor. The DA simply had a stellar bottom of the 5th, finishing off a handful of units, mostly transports and witches along with some warriors with a multitude of small arms. The DA also did not lose a single vehicle. Another round probably would have seen two go down, but the DE had focused so much lance fire on the Dread, the other vehicles just sat pretty.

The Dread (or more specifically Mike's poor Dark lance rolling) would probably be the DA's MVP - simply due to the giant target on his back. Also noteworthy, one lone tactical sarge who survived the whole game - the DE had sought to deny the DA another recycled troop, so this sarge was left to hurl himself at transports with no avail. The tactic backfired in the end however, as if he had been downed, the DE would have earned another 175 pts., and the win.

All in all, a fun and close game.