Solus the Warlock surveyed his forces arrayed for battle, as the Eldar colony prepared to repel the Ork invasion force. He stood behind the lines and watched to his left as the Exarchs, Aspect Warriors and Harlequin Troupe readied themselves. To his right stood rank upon rank of grim Guardians. Further to his right two squadrons of Falcon grav tanks covered the flank, whilst the left flank was covered by a flight of Viper jet bikes. Away in the distance, between the two woods that flanked the field he saw the Ork host arrayed. In their centre stood a mighty Gargant, to its left the Ork Warlord; his opposing commander. Behind them he could see the sinster outline of a Battletower, containing a psychic Weirdboy. To the right of the Gargant were arrayed the Ork Boyz, whilst far over on the Ork lft he could see squadrons of Bikes, Buggies, Battlewagons and Bonecrushas, all poised to turn his right flank.

(This was a 24AP a side battle, fought using the 25mm ground scale. The Eldar forces consisted of: Magician General (Warlocks), God (Avatar), Blades (Exarchs), 2 Warbands (Aspect Warriors and Harlequins), 4 Hordes (Guardians) and 3 Riders (one lot of Viper jet bikes and two of Falcon grav tanks. The Ork force consisted of: Warband General (Ork Warlord), 6 Hordes (Ork Boyz), 3 Riders (one each of Bikez, Buggies and Battlewagons), Knights (Bonecrusha tanks), a Magician (Weirdboy Battletower), and a Behemoth (Slasha Gargant). Terrain was a few low hills around the table edges, and a couple of small woods which closed down the centre, whilst offering scope for flanking moves.)

Solus decided to advance the Eldar host and seize the gap between the woods, hoping to defeat the Ork centre before the Ork vehicles turned his flank. The Falcons were sent to delay the Ork vehicle's advance, whilst the Vipers were sent on a wide sweep to pin the Ork right flank. As Solus ordered his force forward, he saw that the Orks had the same idea, and were also advancing towards the gap. In a cloud of dust he saw their vehicles oving off around his right flank, but saw that the Falcons were already in position to oppose them. As the two lines closed it became obvious that the Eldar were going to reach the gap first, but the Orks continued their advance. Solus marshalled his psychic energy and unleashed a bolt of it at the most obvious target in the Ork line; the mighty Gargant. To his satisfaction he felt the panic of the crew, and watched as it fled backwards out of the line, ending its retreat far to the rear. With a large gap in the Ork line, and the Viper jet bikes now pinning the Ork right, the Eldar had the edge. Solus ordered an attack using his psychic powers to drive back some of the Ork Boyz, and allowing his Exarchs to support the Aspect Warriors and Harlequin Troupe rather than being embroiled in combat themselves. This was fatal for the Orks, and mob after mob of them went down before the Eldar onslaught. The Orks were not beaten, however. Solus heard the bellowed Ork commands, and saw the Warlord lead his followers into the Guardians, sweeping all before them. On the far right, the Falcons survived, but were being driven steadily back by the Ork vehicle squadrons. The Harlequins continued to slaughter the Ork Boyz however, and to Solus' amazement managed to push back the returning Gargant. The Weirdboy attempted to use his powers to drive off more Guardians, but they held.

Solus allowed himself a smile of satisfaction as he felt the psychic pressure that announced the arrival of the Avatar. Towering over the battlefield this mighty incarnation of war itself lunged at the Ork Battletower, and sent it crashing to the ground, just as the Vipers and Aspect Warriors destroyed the last of the Ork Boyz. Victory for the Eldar was almost assured. But Solus soon received a disturbing report; on his right, a squadron of Falcons had been lost, and the other was under extreme pressure. As this news reached him, he watched the Gargant attack the Harlequin Troupe and wipe it out. Finally, as if sensing the impending Eldar victory the Avatar faded, then vanished back to from whence it came. The Eldar left was now under threat from the Gargant, and Solus ordered the Vipers to attack it in order to draw it into a position where the Exarchs could engage it. Their attack was successful, drawing the mighty engine forwards, but their retreat was not quick enough, and the Gargant claimed another unit.

The battle now centred on the Gargant and on the remaining Falcon squadron. Solus led his bodyguard forward to support the Exarchs and Aspect Warriors against the might Ork machine, but they could not destroy it. The remaining Falcon squadron continued to fall back, and Solus saw in horror that the Orks were already feeding reinforcements into the battle; more Ork Boyz had appeared on the horizon, and were advancing towards the battle. To his right he saw the Warlord slaughtering his Guardians, and realised that the day was lost. As the Orks roared in triumph, Solus ordered his army to retreat.

(The Eldar lost half of their AP: 2 Hordes, 2 Riders, 1 Warband and the God. The Orks ended the battle with only the Magician lost, having regenerated all of their Hordes. The game was very close, with the Eldar only 2AP from victory at one point. The loss of the God to an inconvenient '1' didn't help though. Overall result: a good game.)

Back to The Stronghold