2nd Battle of Tamirkhaman

After his Victory that morning Heinriech Von Brandenburg had moved up another conscripted brigade to make up for his incredibly heavy losses. A secret motto of the 17th Ger conscripted brigade, often quoted by the men and subordinate officers, "There are alwasys more to fall after they have" sprang to Heinreich's mind as he buttoned up his sweat soaked uniform. The Desert sun was now high in the sky and all he could smell was sweat. The blood of his men that had been spilled that morning had by now all evapotared. The new recrits were now marching in their columns... but then they faltered. The eldar had appeared... bloody death was upon them.

After the eldars defeat of nearly 100vps we decided to have a rematch, this time I was so confident that I re arranged the board in a strategically bad way (by mistake) and let my opponent rewrite his list.

Armylists were as follows

17th Ger conscripted brigade
Heinreich Von Brandenburg's, Company command squad (5 man)
company command squad (5 man)
Storm troopers (6 man) meltagun and outflank
Storm troopers (6 man) Deep strike
Guards (10 man)
Guards (10 man)
Guards (10 man)
Guards (10 man)
Guards (10 man)
Rough riders (6 man) meltagun
Rough riders (6 man) meltagun

Craftworld Kaela-Morr
Autarch, aspar fateblade
Avatar of Khaine
Guardians (10 man) heavy weapons platform
Dire avengers (10 man)
striking scorpions (6 man) Outflank
snipers (6 man)
Wave serpent (tank)
warp spinner (tank)

Imperial Guard turn 1
Move
The game opened with  four units of my guards marching in close confines down a gap between two buildings, very nasty if a template was to hit. My rough riders on the left then advanced down the backsteet behind the building. On the right however my rough riders and a column of guards spearheaded straight for the tower with the dangerously placed snipers.
Shoot
Unlike the last game my shooting phase proved quite uneventful with the nice vulnerable units hidden behind buildings and the tanks sarring out at me.

Combat
In the combat phase the rough riders charged the tower, somehow bounding up into combat with the snipers on the top and dispatching them all to but a single casualty! Not a bad opening move for the right flank horsemen.

Eldar turn 1
Move
The eldar move phase consisted of the guardians moving out of range of a rough rider charge and the Avatar moving to the base of the tower for an assualt.
Shoot
The shoot phase however was utterly devastating, with the warp spinner opening up on my ranks of guardsmen in the gap. Its firing suceeded in blowing apart eight of the guards, but fortunatly not sending any into retreat.

Guards turn 2
Move
In the move phase  I quickly sent my line double time towards the enemy, spurred on by their command squads (It proved to much for one of the squads as they took a casualty from the warp spinner's net and went fleeing through the acid field). It was also now that my  Storm troopers arrived. The outflankers came on from the left and quickly occupied the store house to give them a field of fire over the Guardians. The aerial assualters however landed in one of the pipes and had to make an emergency landing in the far right hand corner (it turned out later the plane had been hijacked by eldar)
Shoot
In the shoot phase the unit nearest the Avatar opened up with skirmishing fire and managed to wound it. No other firing was plausible.

Combat
In my combat phase I attempted a reckless feat of daring, chargng my rough rider cavalry straight for Fateblade's wave serpent. They dived on it withe their hunting lances, the leader hurling in a melta bomb as they broke wrenched it apart. With their lances they disabled its weapons and wrecked it... And then the melta bomb went off! The whole tank exploded in their faces killing 2 rough riders, a storm trooper, a guardian and 2 of the trapped dire avengers inside. This incident seemed to make the point that rough riders live for: The age of the horse is not yet over and the time of the tank has passed!

Eldar turn 2
Move
In the eldar move the Avatar charged into the rough riders on the right while the Autarch went charging into the rough rider's who had just blown up his ride. Also the Striking scorpions emerged from the left and charged into the flanks of the guard units filing past them.
Shoot
In the shooting phase the Warp spinner suprisingly missed it's shot. But the Dire avengers shot to bits the nearest guard unit. The guardians then opened up on the storm troopers killing all but the sergeant.

Combat
The combat went suprisingly well with my Rough riders cutting down the Autarch to only one casualty themselves. However their kin on the right didn't do as well losing two men to the avatar who their sergeant wounded. On the left again the striking scorpions took down fifteen guardsmen to only three casualties themselves
Things were not looking up for the conscripted brigade.

Guards turn 3
Move
In the move phase the Storm troopers began to serge forward from the back. Also the command squads moved forwards and suceeded to rally the fleeing troops. The Rough riders and storm trooper sergeant then charged the guardians.
Shoot
In the shooting phase the subordinate officer and the closest guards opened up on the dire avengers with skirmishing fire, killing four of them! Over on the left Von brandenburg and his veterans opened up skirmishing fire on the scorpions, killing two.
Combat
In the combat the rough riders and storm trooper sergeant managed to wipe out the guardians, taking not a single casualty! While over on the left the remaing guard and sergeant dispatched the last scorpion with a power sabre thrust. Over on the right however the avatar chopped up the last riders with his huge blade... proving monsters are better than horses.

Then my subordinate ran off to slay the avatar with his power sabre drwan!

After a quick round of combat in which the avatar hit with three attacks and then rolled a triple one to wound, the avatar was left on one wound from a quick slice by the Commander's blade.

Things were looking bad for the eldar as they had but an avatar on one wound, four dire avengers and a warp spinner.

Then I decided to make a job of the Avatar, charging in the storm troopers to help my subordinate. As the avatar was on one wound I was positive that at least one power weapon would get through... perhaps another sergeant would have done it. After a round and a bit of combat my command squad and storm troopers were all dead and the avatar was still standing.

With a few shots from my remaining units the dire avengers were destroyed to a man leaving a one wound avatar and a warp spinner left.

But then the avatar started on my units taking out the nearest one.

It was looking horrible for my force as the warp spinner blasted away all but von brandenburg's command squad, who then opened up with skirmishing fire upon the Avatar of khaine, and by some miracle a shot from a veterans lasgun pierced it and the mighty beast fell...

Then the warp spinner opened up on the command squad and killed the medi pack carrier. And with that the game had ended. It was a close run thing of near 40pts but it was an Eldar victory non the less. A sad day for the imperium but we were happy in the knowledge that we had beaten then by 70pts last time!

1st battle of Tamirkhaman desert

Heinreich Von Brandenburg had been told it would be a simple mopping up operation, Inquisitor Bartholemew of the Ordo Xenos had been quite specific about that. And as his force of eighty conscripts marched through the deserts he could see but sixteen of the aliens with their witch, general and a tank. This would be a pushover, outnumbered four to one the xenos would have no choice but to capitulate Tamirkhaman or be wiped out be overwhelming fire power from his brigade.
Heinreich laughed to himself before dismounting to join his squad.

This was my Imperial guard's (the 17th Ger conscripted brigade) first outing. We were playing 1000pts and I far outnumbered may Eldar opponent! I entered this game with the mind set any imperial guard player who makes an entirely infantry/cavalry no heavy weapons/vehicles army should have and expected to be obliterated by my opponent's elite force of Eldar.

Armylists were as follows

17th Ger conscripted brigade
Heinreich Von Brandenburg's, Company command squad (5 man)
company command squad (5 man)
Storm troopers (6 man) meltagun and outflank
Storm troopers (6 man) Deep strike
Guards (10 man)
Guards (10 man)
Guards (10 man)
Guards (10 man)
Guards (10 man)
Rough riders (6 man) meltagun
Rough riders (6 man) meltagun

Craftworld Kaela-Morr
Autarch, aspar fateblade
Doom seer
dire avengers (10 man)
striking scorpions (6 man) Outflank
warp spiders (5 man) deep strike
snipers (6 man)
warp spinner (tank)

The lines were arrayed thus with the eldar holding a tiny line against an imperial guard force that only just fitted on the table and this wasn't all of it!

Imperial Guard turn 1
move
In the move phase I managed to run my  rough riders halfway across the board in what seemed to me a very ill fated charge! After that I moved my Right flank forwards while holding my left flank back and ordering them all to do platoon fire.
shoot
The shooting phase was devastating with a whopping 60 lasgun shots finding their way into the dire avengers. It goes without saying that not a single dire avenger survived.

combat
After ordering the rough riders to advance with all speed they then charged the doom seer, he inflicted no wounds and was wounded by a hunting lance himself. Things were not looking up for the eldar who had at this moment a meagre 8 models and a tank on the board to my 84.

Eldar turn 1
Move
The eldar did little movement save to charge their autarch into the rough riders, hoping to save the doom seer... which he probably would.
shoot
In the shooting phase the warp spinner and snipers combined fire on the remaining rough riders, obliterating the squad in a fatalistic charge of the light brigade style.
Combat
In the combat the Autarch and doom seer made short work of the rough riders, slicing them up in a whirl of blades.

Guard turn 2
Move
This turn both my storm trooper units arrived, with one of the units outflanking right next to the Tower with the snipers inside and the other deep striking directly in between both battle lines. I then decided to advance the entire forward, easily pushing over the half way mark.
One of the units ordered to run, went charging through the acid spraying out of the pipes with two killed.
Shoot
Having moved my line forward to shooting phase was fairly uneventful, however I had moved one of my command squads in range of the aerial assaulting storm troopers, ordering them to open up with skirmishing fire on the Doomseer, which they did, killing him!
Combat
Combat was uneventful with the Outflanking stormtroopers failing a rush on the tower.

Eldar turn 2
Move
In the Eldar movement their Warp spiders finally arrived, and deployed behind the rear of the right flank guards. The Autarch then started running from the Storm troopers who had shot the doom seer.
Shoot
In the shooting phase the Warp spiders opened up on some of the guardsmen killing five and sending the rest fleeing straight past them. The warp spinner then opened up on the centre of the guards ranks killing six and forcing one of the units to go to ground.
The Snipers then opened up on some of the storm troopers killing two.
Combat
Using their teleport move the warp spiders do a hit and run, having sent a unit fleeing they slink off behind a building.
Guard turn 2
Move
In the move phase we managed to rally several of the units hit by the warp spinner (unfortunately not the ones targeted by the spiders, who now fled the board). After that the storm troopers began to close in on the tower, grapnels out.
Shoot
In the shooting phase the unit nearest the warp spiders was directed to open up with skirmishing fire on them, killing all but the Exarch with a hail of close range shots.

Combat
In the combat phase both storm trooper squads scaled the tower and assaulted the snipers, losing no casualties and completely wiping out the eldar before abseiling back down the tower and heading for the Autarch.

Eldar turn 3
Move
In the next turn the final block of Eldar reinforcements the striking scorpions arrived from their ranks, charging towards the storm troopers. The Autarch then flew up to the heights of the tower and the remaining warp spider charged the nearest guards.
Shoot
this phase was completely un eventful save for the Autarch taking out a single guardsman with his missile launcher.
Combat
In the combat the Striking scorpions easily slaughtered the storm troopers before they could even react to the space elves chain saws.

Also the lone warpspider rushed into combat with the nearest guards. The guardsmen lost one casualty to the Eldar before their sergeant ran forward and sliced him in two with his power sabre.

Guard turn 4
Move
In our move phase the subordinate commander quickly lead his line forward. On the far left the rallied guards advanced through the acid pipes, managing to march with little mishap.
Shoot
The Storm troopers and two the two other nearest guards then opened up punishing skirmishing fire on the scorpions killing three of them before charging into combat with them.
Combat
In the combat the storm troopers and 5 guards ran into a fight with the scorpions. The scorpions managed to kill all the guards and 3 of the storm troopers before being slaughtered by the sergeants.

The game now left just 1 eldar and a tank against around 30 guardsmen. In the Eldar turn however the Warp spinner blasted apart the last storm trooper and the last 6 guardsmen of one of the units. They also moved their Autarch rather unwisely out of the tower (he would however of been assaulted if he had stayed there)

In my turn I ordered my right flank guards to open up on Fateblade with skirmishing fire, wounding him twice and leaving him nice and vulnerable for Von Brandenburg's subordinate officer.

In the Eldar turn the Autarch charged into my company command squad and was cut down by my officer's power sabre, only killing two of the veterans in the clash.

The warp spinner then opened up in a last ditch attempt to  take out the remaining guards.

But even it's guns could not wipe out the last guard units and only killed 6 guardsmen.

The game ended with the Eldar tank remaining against both my command companies and 3 guardsmen. All in all this was a very good game and one I did not expect to win, but as I always say "once you've moved your line into the enemy's table half victory is almost certain!"

Now Rematch!