Eldar Stopped Cold on Vornex IV

In my continuing attempt to playtest new FOBWW2v2 and my conversion of Epic 40k to FoB, we played another game Wednesday night.

Some things we tried out last night based on conversations here on the list.

1. No drift for off-board indirect fire. (Worked perfectly)
2. We used Asset desks for calling in assets. (FANTASTIC!)
3. No templates (just a D4 distance from the unit targeted), and this too worked great!
4. Defenders in town areas may choose to retreat suppressed if they want rather than hold their town section suppressed. This also worked great.
5. Close Assault in town that would not have ended, because the defender never has to leave, ends in exhaustion if the defender is pushed back 3 or more inches. Attackers then move into the town section with the defender. (Worked great!)
6. Off-Board counterbattery! This mechanic worked great. An artillery asset (Medium, or Heavy) can fire counter-battery. Roll the CC die of the asset vs a D8. If you win, you reduce the enemy’s asset points by 1.

Game Objective: Eldar to take the Space Marine Administration Center (large building with golden roof) The Administration Center was protected by an Ion Cannon. Our first attempt to add in units with shields to the game. The Ion Cannon had a 12+1 combat die, and D10 defensive die.

 

Eric played the Ultramarines, while Brian and Mike attacked with the Eldar. The game was very large in that there were 35 Eldar units, and 22 Ultramarine units on the table.

 

Space Marine Tactical Battalion (Mechanized) deployed in small city near the river on the Ultramarine's right flank

On the Ultramarine left flank armored companies remain in reserve, while Devastators defend the city, next to the Administration Center.

A battalion of Ultramarine Terminators are hunkered down in the Administration Center.

Shields up! Ion Cannon in rotating turret has two plasma shields up! Eldar Falcon Grav tanks loaded with Guardians in the distance.

In reserve, the Space Marines have a 3 company Assault Battalion.

 

The warhost of Eldar Exarchs saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the day.

 

 

Because the Ion Cannon dominated the terrain of the battlefield the Eldar were determined to destroy it. One of their first cards was the Command & Control card, which allowed them to call in off-board assets. Their first asset was a PLASMA MISSILE (D12+1 combat die)! Just my luck!

 

So, the Eldar targeted the Ion Cannon with a Plasma Missile. Litko plasma shield disks.

 

The plasma missile tears into the Ion Cannon knocking out both shields and inflicting one hit on the structure! So much for my lovely Ion Cannon!

 

View from Mike's position, looking at the Ion Cannon in the middle of the battlefield.

 

Using the large hill as cover, Brian advances his entire host into striking position...

Mike sends in his Swooping Hawks into the teeth of death!

 

The Swooping Hawks are smashed and pushed back with heavy loses!

 

 

Mike moves his Edlar Grav Tanks and Guardians into position to attack the Ultramarine right flank city.

 

The Eldar Exachs launch their first assault on the Ion Cannon

 

 

Brian's 2 Guardian battalions (6 companies), Striking Scorpions, and Dreadnoughts prepare to attack my left flank

 

Great shot of the dual between Ultramarine Devastators and Eldar Dreadnoughts and Bright lances.

Devastators start to take some loses, but manage to drive off both the Bright Lance company and Dreadnoughts.

 

Mike's Exachs launch another assault on the Ion Cannon, but the going is tough as the Ion cannon shatters the elite Eldar warriors.

 

Exarchs are pushed back with heavy loses, and even lose one company.

 

Eldar assault the Ultramarine right flank. Guardians disgorge from their grav tanks and begin to hammery the marines.

 

Exarchs rally and push in again. You can see a second hit marker on the Ion Cannon now.

 

Brian's Eldar launch their assault led by the Striking Scorpions on the Ultramarine's left hand city! My Ultramarines commit their armor to try and breakup the attack.

 

Here you can see how badly the Eldar were chewed up. Brian lost nearly every unit attacking my city from Land Raider and Devastator fire. He figured he would lose some, but not everything!

Exachs exact revenge and finally destroy the Ion Cannon, but the cost was tremendous.

My Tactical Marines on the right flank can't stop the Eldar attack and are slowly being pushed back in the city!

Ultramarine off-board artilery strikes a Guardian unit on the right flank!

 

Space Marines had hot dice and almost annihilated Brian's entire attack. (I rolled great, Brian rolled 1s) Eldar lost 26 of their 35 Morale Points after one turn, while the Marines only lost 7 of 22 morale points. The Eldar players conceded this battle.

The Eldar are going to regroup (bring new troops in and rotate some exhausted troops out) and attack again next week. We are learning a lot about tactics and strategies around off-board support, movement, and general game mechanics. We are still new to FoB so each game is a learning experience.

Epic FOB: Clash on Planet Vornex IV Rages On!

Eldar continue their march against Ultramarine planetary defenses. This time the Ultramarines have some heavy ion cannon bunkers with protective shields. Think Maginot line type canopy gun positions.

Here we see an Eldar Titan shattering another city on Vornex as Falcons Grav Tanks, Guardians, and Jetbike recon lead the way!

View of the left side of the table from the Ultramarine point of view:

View of the right side of the table from the Ultramarine point of view:

 
Game to be played on Wednesday. Titan will not be involved, but eventually I will work out rules for the Titans.
 

Epic FOB: Battle at Shilan on Vornex IV - Part 2

Part 1 can be found here:
http://dinofbattle.blogspot.com/2011/04/epic-pk-battle-at-shilan-on-vornex-iv.html

The battle for Shilan continued to rage even after 4 hours of savage fighting.

Space Marine commanders began requesting fire missions from the Orbiting Weapons Platform, 20 miles above the planet. Will the assistance arrive in time?

The Right Hook

The Eldar won a series of impetus rolls which allowed them to flip really nice and useful cards, while my Marines stagger through their deck. (My first card was Command & Control and like an idiot I forgot to rally my troops!).

Anyway, the armored right flank of the Eldar (Exarches, Falcons, Swooping Hawks, and Guardians) were ready to pounce on my exposed left flank. The Falcons disgorged their Guardian companies and then went on the hunt!

Falcons move and deploy their forces turning the Ultramarine flank

Falcon Grav Tank company and 4 companies of Swooping Hawks (hiding on the other side of the ridge) prepare to attack the city

On the Space Marine's right flank the Eldar commit another Warhost of Guardians to take out the Ultramarines!

  

The Falcons with Guardian support attacked and drive back the  Land Raiders.

2UI and Suppressed!

The Kill!

City Fight
Three companies of Swooping Hawks moved into assault the city section held by a company of Ultramarine Devastators.

One Swooping Hawk company was smashed by the Storm Bolters of the 3rd Terminator company in an adjacent city section, leaving only 2 companies for the assault.

Three rounds of melee were fought and the Ultramarines were pushed back with heavy loses!

The 3rd Terminators launched a counter assault against the Swooping Hawks, but was quickly (and shamefully) repulsed by the Hawks!

The Swooping Hawk assault was supported by Falcons and Guardians, which forced my Predator company to retreat, forced my Assault troops to flee to the protective cover of the city, and the 95th Whirlwinds had to relocate or be brewed up! (Not a shining moment in Ultramarine History).


The Eldar attack

Pretty cool view from ground level. See the heavy loses my Predator MBT company has taken!

The Eldar Exarches really had trouble getting back into the fight. Their first battle in the woods versus the Assault Marines cost them about 5 UI, plus a couple suppressions. Their commander couldn't shake off the loses (rolled a 1 on rally twice, before finally getting some success late in turn two). The Exarches are the best soldiers the Eldar have, yet they couldn't rally enough to attack the city.

Exarches (orange units in the back near the trees) attempting to regroup to fight again

The Fight in the Center and Right Flank

As the fight for the city raged, the center and right flank of the Ultramarines so heavy fighting.

Guardian and Jetbikes attack the Ultramarine tactical company holding the center woods, driving them back

Mike sends in a company of Striking Scorpions to finish the Marines off!

The Guardian attack on the Ultramarines on the far right flank is shattered

Meanwhile the Land Raider (MBT) assigned to the Tactical Marine command destroys another Guardian infantry unit in a close quarters firefight.

Then turns on the advancing Striking Scorpions

Vortex Missile Strike
The Vortex Missile came screeching through the sky and landed right on the Swooping Hawk's position in the city! Two companies of Swooping Hawks were sucked into the void! The Void remained on the table chewing up the city section. Since this vortex could either disappate, remain in place, or move my Marines were extremely nervous about the situation (Next time I'm not going to bring down a Vortex missile that close to my own objectives and troops).

In addition timely artillery strike by the Marines hit more Eldar units

Conclusion
Field of Battle: WW2 does work with Sci-Fi miniatures with minor tweaking! I'm soooo glad to finally have my Epic 40K figures back on the gaming table with a ruleset I enjoy!

We all learned some valuable lessons in the playtest. The Eldar needed to push harder in some sections and reduce the action in others where they just needed to pin down some Ultramarines rather than run right into them. The Space Marines were ok, but I was so outnumbered I was thankful for every Eldar unit I could nibble out here and there to reduce their Morale Points to zero. When the fight got heavy (when I was outnumbered) it was hard for me to hold my position. Eldar needed to drop more off-board artillery on me to soften me up or at least make me freak out. The end of turn 2 had about 4 indirect barrages arrive for the Eldar, but it was too late.

We will likely play another battle next week, and I hope to have some Eldar Tempast Super Heavy Grav Tanks ready to rumble by then.

Epic FOB - Off Board Assets

Due to the huge amount of leathal off board fire-power I have had tried to expand how FoB:WW2 uses off-board assets.

Epic 1st edition had some pretty cool missile types and I wanted to start thinking of different ways to put them into Epic Field of Battle (EFOB). This is just an open flow of ideas. Nothing in stone. Suggestions welcome.

Missile Types


Each missile will have an area of effect template. The old ones from GW were smaller circles. I'm not sure those are big enough for EFOB. I may put them on my scanner and enlarge them.
Haywire
A missile that will destroy electronics on vehicles, and targeting systems.
D12 vs DD versus vehicles. Vehicle circuits destroyed if Haywire wins. No effect on infantry?

Plasma
D12 vs D6 for target.

Stasis
Power statis field immobilizes all units underneath the template.
No firing in or out of the statis field. No moving in our out of it either.

Vortex
D12 vs DD
Win and target sucked into the void. No chance for survival.
Lose and unit is suppressed and moved to the edge of the vortex template.

Blind
Small ECM particals are dispersed in the air which disrupt targeting. Similar to 20th century smoke.

Gas
Some type of sarin gas attack or nerve agent.
D12+1 vs DD
Persistant cloud. Area denial.

Proximity Mines (air delivered)
Anti-Personel: D10 vs Inf, D4 vs Armor
Anti-Tank: D10 vs Armor, D6 vs Infantry

Off board Artillery
Heavy (Divisional Batteries) D12
Medium (Divisional Batteries) D10
Orbital Weapons Platforms (D12+1 or D12 or D10)
I'm thinking of creating an Asset deck. Players will draw from a deck of available assets, then add cards that are duds (Asset Request Failed). This will be the game's asset deck. When the Command & Control card comes up the player will spend asset points to draw from the Asset deck. Sometimes they will get an asset, sometimes they won't. They won't even know what asset will be available to then until they draw it from the deck.

Anyway, thos are some thoughts on the subject.
Eric

Epic FOB: Battle at Shilan on Vornex IV - Part 1

The Eldar warhosts launched attack after attack across Vornex IV overrunning most of the Imperial Guard and Space Marine defenders. General Tarnak of the Ultramarines setup a defensive perimeter around the city of Shilan. Several towns and cities to the south lay in ruins, but the Eldar would be coming from that direction. Can General Tarnak's reinforced combat brigade put a dent in the Eldar assault so that more Ultramarines can be redeploy to face this threat?

Battle Report featuring my Epic scale Space Marines and Eldar using modified Field of Battle by Brent Oman. This is part 1 of the report. Game to be completed next Wednesday.

Initial Deployment

Per previous blog posts with the OOB, the Eldar nearly have a 2 to 1 force ratio. Brian and Mike were the Eldar players while I was the Space Marine commander.
The Eldar have 4 turns to capture the city of Shilan. It is an 8 section city with large skyscrapers.

Overall Space Marine setup

Mike took the "foot sloggers" of the Eldar army: 2 Guardian regiments (6 companies, plus recon, plus AT guns), Fire Dragon Regiment (2 companies), and Striking Scorpion Regiment (4 companies). He deployed this to the center and right flank of the Space Marines.

Mike's force, Marine right flank

View of the Eldar central position deployment

Brian deployed his Guardian regiment in Falcon Grav Tanks, along with the Exarches and Swooping Hawks on the Space Marine left flank.

Falcon Grav Tanks with Exarches backing them up.

The Space Marines deployed in their first line of defenses in the small hills and woods before Shilan, the Assault Regiment (3 companies) on the left flank facing the Exarches, and the Tactical Regiment (3 companies + Land Raider company) on the right flank. They left the center week, but completely covered by the Devastator and Terminator companies deployed in Shilan.

Space Marine left flank, with Ultramarine Assault troops near the woods (red jump packs)

City of Shilan, with Ultramarine Terminators and Devastators waiting for the Eldar

The remainder of the Space Marine Land Raiders, Predators MBT, and Whirlwind Missile Launchers, were in a mobile reserve location.

Opening Moves

Turn 1 (4 hours in real time) saw the Eldar press forward in an attempt to the clear the woods and ridges of the first line of Space Marine defenders.

Eldar off-board artillery fell quickly on a Terminator company hunkered down in Shilan, but had no visible affect.

On the Space Marine right flank the Eldar moved their Fire Dragons forward supported by a regiment of Guardians. In the center the Striking Scorpions quickly moved (triple move) to attack the lone Tactical Marine company holding the center woods. On the Marine left flank the Exarches jumped all over the Marine Assault companies located in the woods (Class II).

Guardians advance in their Falcon Grav Tanks, but wait for Exarches to clear the woods of Space Marine Assault companies.

Space Marine right flank seas the Eldar Jet bikes doing recon against 2 Tactical Marine companies in the woods.

With a triple move, the Striking Scorpions launch an assault against the lone Tactical marine company in the center woods.

The Tactical Marines in the center repulse the Striking Scorpions! Litko smoke marker indicates suppression, while the mini-blast markers indicate Unit Integrety hits. The command stand has one to indicate a need for survival check

The Space Marines, through in a company of Land Raiders to defend the right flank and it blew the Eldar recon to peices.

Next, the Marines focused on the Eldar Fire Dragons on the right flank and forced them to retreat.

Overall view of the Eldar attack

The Exarch Assault! The Space Marine Assault companies repulse 2 of the 3 Exach attacks, but the last assault at the bottom of the photo completely eliminated the Space Marine Assault company.

The Ultramarine Assault regiment is being overwhelmed. Their commander decides to fall back to the relative safety of the city

Near the end of the first turn the Space Marines deployed a air-delivered anti-personnel mine field on the right flank in front of their position in the woods, and dropped a Medium barrage (off-board support) which just missed a massed Swooping Hawk regiment. (I think my Forward Observer was sniffing glue when he gave the off-board artillery the coordinates, as I rolled my second 1 on a D12 for barrage drift!) So instead of my barrage hitting EVERY Swooping Hawk unit, it only landed on one, then preceded to do NO damage to them.

At this point the Eldar are closer to their assault on Shilan on the Space Marine left flank, but are still trying to clear out the Tactical Marines on the right flank. This was the end of turn 1.

To be continued ...