Dark Eldar vs Space Marines 1000pts Narrative Bat Rep

[Zaljin]

Some background. This was our first 6th Edition game. Neither list is optimal, he want to test the viability of tactical squads and vanguard squads. I took Lelith because she is a beautiful model and wanted to test if she could handle terminators. Didn't get the opportunity unfortunantly.

The 1st and 2nd tactical squads of the 2nd company of The Light Bringers Space Marine Chapter advanced warily through the collapsing ruins of the war torn city of Olgessa Gardens on the 5thplanet of Tritan system. They had arrived too late to save the population from a gruesome death. Corpses, ravaged by glass shards or lacerated from precision swipes of razor sharp blades littered the streets. The treads of a predator destructor rumbled through the roadways unceremoniously crushing the deceased, while its autocannon turret and lascannon sponsons tracked for targets. The detachment was making its way to the Imperial Sanctuary located in city’s main square.

Sgt. Marcus of 1st Squad “Purifiers” spoke through the Chapter’s vox channel. “2nd Squad, take up position by the Imperial Sanctuary. ‘Emperor’s Wrath’, hold and remain vigilant. 1st Squad, secure this building.”

With precision known only to the Emperor’s warrior elite, 1st and 2nd squad performed the orders with perfect tactical execution.

In the distance a great forest surrounded this city, untouched by the hands of war. Sgt. Marcus scanned for targets. He was about to find a better vantage atop of the ruined building his squad had taken cover in when he heard the scream of jet engines gunning towards his position.
A focused beam of dark-light energy shrieked towards 2nd squad hitting Sgt. Octavious squarely in the chest. Instead of being vaporized instantly the sergeant shrugged off the blast, as if protected by the Emperor himself.

“Emperor curse the Dark Eldar!” Sgt. Marcus thought to himself. “Take COVER!” he screamed. Activating his vox link to the strike cruiser orbiting the planet he spoke, “Brother Librarian, the xenos filth Dark Eldar are the perpetrators of this atrocious violation of Imperial territory!” There was a crackle of static before the sergeant received reply, “Sergeant, persecute the enemy, our Vanguard and Terminator brothers from 1st company will accompany me to wage war on these blights of the galaxy!”

Peering through the windows of the derelict structure Sgt. Marcus took hold of the tactical situation. Having engaged the Dark Eldar before, he was familiar with their pattern of vehicles and unit formations. Rapidly approaching up the street closest to the sergeant’s building was a Raider painted blood red filled with murderous ‘Wyches’ in black body suits and armor matching the color of the Raider, their hair ritualistically dyed ice blue. They were armed with pistols and an assortment of exotic knives, chains and flails.

On the opposite side of 2nd squad, across the Imperial Sanctuary was another hovering Raider full of Wyches, however these were armed with typical Dark Eldar weaponry, splinter rifles. The Wych manning the dark lance turret fired a beam of dark-light energy towards the ‘Emperor’s Wrath’ but over shot her target. The passengers let loose a hail of glass-like shards towards 2nd squad, and brother Aton’s head, who had taken cover behind a rubble wall, shot back in a stream of blood.
Crossing paths with the 2nd raider a ‘Venom’ transport bolted from cover. Wyches were hanging on to the railings swinging deadly chained instruments of death. Marcus thought he spotted a known enemy of the Imperium, Lelith Hespirex, surrounded by her Incubii body guard. Her tall and slender but lethal body was protected only by scraps of leather tied together. He knew it was her because of her long flowing entangled with barbs meant to hook her enemies which set her apart from the other Wyches. The two splinter cannons on the Venom fired a barrage of shards at 2ndsquad piercing two Battle Brothers armor and seeping poison into their system that even their genetically enhanced bodies could not stop. Emboldened by the nearby Emperor’s Sanctuary, 2nd squad held their ground despite their grievous wounds.
Without his heightened sense Sgt Marcus might have missed blur of four speeding Reaver Jet Bikes trying to outflank 2nd squads position, but he made note and relayed to the orbiting strike cruiser.

It was time to teach these xenos the might of the Emperor’s Finest. 2nd Squad locked onto one of the Raiders with its rocket launcher and let loose a missile that streaked to its target. The pilot attempted to avoid the oncoming ordinance but was too slow. The rocket impacted on the transport destroying its engines and bringing it crashing down to the ground. The crew met a gruesome death but the Wyches sensed the pilots impending failure and bailed out of the vehicle without suffering any harm.

“Emperor’s Wrath”, Voxed Sgt. Marcus, “Target the Venom!” The Predator opened fire with its autocannon. With a thunderous roar the heavy rounds ripped towards the target but the venom’s pilot was more skilled than that of the downed Raider, dodging most of the incoming fire except for one glancing blow. The sponsoned lascannons blasted beams of energy towards the venom with an energized crack. The first volley missed its target but the second exploded through the cockpit, vaporizing the pilot and detonating the fuel supply in a catastrophic explosion. Marcus nearly celebrated the death of one of the Imperium’s most hated enemies but he should of known better. Lelith elegantly jumped from exploding vehicle and landed a perfect dismount, unscathed. Two of her body guard were not as lucky, caught in the blast, their bodies were thrown 15 meters with a trail of blood and extremities.

With a hiss, Sergeant Marcus’s vox bead came to life. He heard the voice of his Brother Librarian break through the static, “A Dark Eldar Razorwing Jet Fighter has cut through our planetary cordon. Be aware Brother.”

No sooner had the Librarian finished speaking Marcus could see the Razorwing zooming towards them with lightning speed. He muttered a prayer to the Emperor before screaming, “TAKE COVER!” It was too late. The pilot was good; she unleashed a volley of rockets that hit dead on amidst the power armored warriors. The blast tore apart three of his battle brothers in a mangle of armor and gore. Beams of dark-light energy impacted on the sergeant’s pauldrons but he rolled with the blow, deflecting the shot. Shards of splinter fire impacted around them and against their armor, shattering like glass. Marcus stood firm despite the blistering fire and rallied his troops around him.

The remaining Raider jetted down the street towards 1st squad hunkered down in the ruined structure. The Wyches aboard disembarked from the transport and moved within striking distance.

The Wyches armed with splinter rifles moved into the city square and took cover amongst the rubble. They opened fired at 2nd squad taking refuge in the Imperial Sanctuary. The storm of splinter shards felled three mighty warriors of the Imperium, but they held strong. Lelith Hespirex and her remaining bodyguard ran towards 2nd squad across open ground. The Reavers barreled along the flank in attempts to engage the Predator.

The squad of Wyches closest to the ‘The Purifiers’ charged through the ruin to clash with the almighty Space Marines. 1st squad opened fire. Bolter fire traced through the building, impacts exploding against the walls. One shell found its mark and detonated in a charging Wych’s torso, tearing her into two. Gouts of fire were unleashed from the squad’s flamer but did not harm the Wyches in their dance of death. Frag grenades exploded among the ruins, and before the space marines could gather their wits the Wyches had crashed into the squad and the swirling melee had begun.

The sergeant heard one of the Wyches screaming in accented Low Gothic through the dense smoke, “Who among you Mon-Keigh will accept the challenge of single combat with me?!”
The sergeant moved to the front line at sound of the voice, and saw a lithe eldar warrior, skin as pale as granite rock. He saluted with his whirling chainsword, and the Wych took this moment to pounce. Lashing out with an energized whip, she struck the sergeant no less than three times. The blows would have killed anyone other than one of the Emperor’s super soldiers but through sear determination Marcus absorbed the blows. A look of shock appeared on the Wych’s face, but she gritted her teeth and attempted to dodge the sergeant’s repost. She was just a second too slow. His chainsword caught her in the neck and grinded its way through flesh and bone in a shower of blood, parting head from torso.

Assessing the situation, he had lost three battle brothers to the impossibly sharp blades of the enemy as they danced around his forces. A member of ‘The Purifiers’ managed to grab hold of passing blue hair, snapping it down quickly to the ground breaking the Wych’s neck.
“Hold your ground my brothers!” Marcus shouted.

A bolt of lightning shot from the heavens and the Company Librarian Davian surrounded by a bodyguard of Terminators from the Chapter’s 1st Company materialized in the square.
Members of the 1st Company’s Vanguard heroically hurtled to the earth using their jump packs, arriving next the Reaver squadron with impeccable timing as always.
The battle had begun.

Sgt. Octavious of 2nd Squad did not notice Lelith Hespirex advancing his position and ordered the squad’s heavy weapon specialist to fire his rocket launcher at the remaining Raider. The missile smacked into the hull of the transport, exploding within the vehicle, breaking it into pieces which came crashing down into the streets below.

The Terminator squad set their sights on the unit Wyches hunkered down in the town square. The assault cannon barrels revved up but couldn’t lock on target. Storm bolters barked, but the shells impacted against the crater walls and the Eldar did not suffer any casualties. Lightning Arched from Librarian Davian’s eyes, and he outstretched his arm towards the enemy. Streams of energy bolted from his figure tips and struck one of Wyches. She keeled over dead. Seconds later a second female warrior collapsed who had been standing close to the first. A third, fourth and fifth member of the squad died in similar fashion. The psychic onslaught was too much for the warriors; they broke cover and ran.

‘Emperor’s Wrath’ attempted to target the Eldar fighter but was unable to get a solid lock. It fired a salvo in attempts to make the pilot second guess its attack run.

Using their jump packs the Vanguard squad was able to catch up to the passing Reaver squad. Their chainswords and bolt pistols eliminated the entire enemy squad without any loses of their own.

As the melee that consumed 1stsquad raged, close range bolter fire tore through two twirling Wyches turning them into nothing more than a pink mist. One battle brother was not so lucky, one of the dancing warriors stabbed down with her blade into his helmet penetrated through the skull and into the brain. The marine collapsed to the ground, blood spurting from the wound. Marcus took it upon himself to avenge his brother, aimed his pistol at the offending Wych and blew apart her skull in a shower of bone and gore. Seeing the fight was lost the Wyches tried to break and run but the Space Marines anticipated the retreat, cutting them down.

The Razorwing fighter swooped to the right, leveling it’s guns towards the Vanguard squad left in the open after dispatching the Reaver Squad. The pilot let loose two rockets that hit square amongst the unit blowing apart three space marines before they knew what hit them. Two dark lances zapped towards the enemy, one completely missing and the other inflicting no damage.

Lelith watched the remaining Wych squad attempt to flee the battlefield only to be cut down by the vanguard. She was not done with the Mon-Keigh as she had not yet had the pleasure of drawing blood. The 2nd squatting by their little Sanctuary had not noticed her approach and would soon pay for such incompetence. Charging forth through the rubble with both eloquent knives in hand, Lelith began her slaughter in a blur of movement. She eviscerated the first marine’s chest while stabbing down through skull of the second. Vaulting over the dying soldier’s body the lithe warrior gored the throat of the marine carrying the rocket launcher spinning around him and using both blades in a scissor strike, lopped off the head of the sergeant.

Marcus watched the scene before in horror. The Dark Eldar warrior had killed Octavious, a one hundred veteran, before the first body had even hit the ground.

Having satisfied her need for the hunt Lelith dropped a web way portal to make her escape. The Mon-Keigh had thwarted her trap but her forces had taken more than enough slaves for the arenas already. With a smirk she stepped through the swirling blue portal just as fire from the assault cannon fire tore through the rubble where she was standing.
Seeing the battle was lost and having delivered its payload, the Razorwing broke for the stratosphere to make its escape.

Fury broke Marcus’s calm demeanor. The butcher of his brother in arms got away! He would have to do penance for his failure. He flinched back as the Librarian placed a hand on his shoulder ready to strike. “Be still my brother, we will get our vengeance one day. I can see it now.”

[Zidan274]

Wow! Amazing battle report. The text is well written and epic =)

[Zaljin]

Thanks, I was wondering if I was going to get any feedback! I was going to do more to improve my writting if people liked.

[TacticalWithdraw]

That was one of the best battle reports i've read in a long time, keep it up!