The Custode forces deployed to Valour VII. Rumours of disappearances had been lost in the initial fighting but a dutiful Administratum worker noticed while sifting through reports. It was localized to one particular area. Unpopulated and believed by locals to be haunted by the spirits of the dead. Superstition was not uncommon on these backwater worlds with limited enlightenment of the Emperor, which is why his chosen were here.
Four Sisters of Silence Squads spread out across the central spear tip of their deployment. They had picked up the transmission of a Webway Gate. It was clearly a threat as an entire invading army could pass through within hours. While they homed in on their target, each flank was protected by a mighty Caladius Grav Tank and a unit of Sagittarum. Valerian and Aleya took the central squads and bolstered them by their presence.
Quickly they located the Webway Gate. Sensing it powering up and about to release enemy forces, they opened fire! The tanks fired their 2 Linked Heavy Arachnus Blaze Cannons on anti-armour mode. The roar of bolter weapons roared through the wild lands. The gate’s shields held up against some of the fire, but it suffered heavy damage. The Sisters Advanced up to the ruined buildings that had been abandoned hundreds of years ago and prepared to engage any forces coming out.
However, all that happened in return was the gentle hum of the Gateway as its forcefield pulsated softly.
Uneasy, they forces opened fire. When in doubt, burn the heretic so they say. Or mutant. Or witch. Or anything else the Imperium hates. Under the full power of the Custodes, the gate shuttered and collapsed in on itself, leaving only a few fragments behind. With all of their initial Objectives secured, it seemed like they might have already won before it had started.
Right as they began to relax, the Harlequins arrived! Three Squadrons of three Voidweavers armed with haywire weapons dropped from the sky. One dropped behind the tank on the western flank, while the other two dropped in front of the one on the eastern. Two Solitaires emerged from separate angles and closed in on the Sagittarum on the western flank, supported by a unit of Troupes accompanied by two Death Jesters. A further unit of Troupes with a Troupe Master, Yvraine, and the Visarch came up right behind the tank on the eastern flank. Lastly, Ynnead ripped through reality and appeared roughly in the center of the field.
Surprised at the massive Outflank and Deepstrike ambush, most of Custodes were in exposed positions to the enemy. However, for whatever reason the Troupe was playing their part of Fate and did not hammer the imperial forces nearly as hard as one would have expected. The western flank saw their tank only get a light damaging from the haywire weapons. One of the Custodes was lightly injured despite being shot with ten highly dangerous Neuro Disrupters and both Death Jesters.
On the western flank the Caladius tank took more damage and had one of its main weapons was disabled, but was still active. At point blank range it suffered six shots from Fusion Pistols but only had one of its bolters disabled. One Sister was gunned down by the Shuriken Catapults and another injured.
The Custodes quickly rallied due to the lack of anything major happening and retaliated. On the western flank the three Sagittarum adjusted fire and severely injured both Death Jesters. The tank pulled back and fired twin blast modes into the closing units and slew several of the rapidly flipping and tumbling Players.
On the eastern flank the tank spun around and fired twin blasts into the lightly armoured craft tearing it up. While the crafts were not heavily armoured, they still were resilient to area dispersion weapons. Despite this, one had its engine blown out and was nearly destroyed but managed to stay in the fight. The Sister squads began forming waves of firing lines designed to bleed out the Harlequins. Not wanting to charge a unit armed with Plasma Grenades and be rendered vulnerable with Blind, they opted to instead use flamers and bolters, making the fight come to them on their terms. Several key characters were injured, but they only lost one Player to incoming fire.
The Harlequins were facing a bleak outlook. The Custodes were holding lots of battlefield strategic locations and were gaining massive momentum. Whatever play Fate had set aside for them to act out, they were going to do it. The western flank saw the Solitaires and Troupe close in and collapse onto the Sagittarum starting to fall back. The incredibly resilient one was able to withstand the pistols, but not the Melee. He was able to take several down with him. One of the Solitaires vaulted over a wall and landed behind the furthermost retreating one, but landed on his knife several times and died without doing anything in return.
On the eastern flank, the six still operational Voidweavers fired again, heavily damaging the tank but it still remained. It was listing heavily to the side, smoke billowing from its engines and flames licking at the back of its chassis. From across the field on the eastern flank, the Voidweavers were trying to get into position, but only one was in range. It fired and blew the tank up in a small ball of fire. The other two fired at the remaining tank and damaged it a bit more, striking its engine with a direct hit and stunning the driver with another. The Avatar of Ynnead charged into Valerian’s unit, cutting down two Sisters with its incredibly dangerous blade. It in turn was only lightly injured as Valerian slipped in the afore mentioned Sisters entrails.
The Troupe fired at and killed most of the Sisters in front of them, leaving only the Champion and one Sister left. They charged in, the Troupe Master answering the Champions call. He performed a graceful leap into the air practiced thousands of times of hundreds of years answering his true calling. He twisted into a spiral, bringing his blade about for a fatal blow to the injured Sister, but instead landed on her sword and ran himself through. His own blade fell out of his hand and bounced off of her shield. Then he died. The other sister was cut to literal ribbons from the Harlequin’s Kisses that were lacerating her, but the unit got stuck in melee. At the cost of one of their leaders, they were able to avoid getting shot by the next wave in an unprecedented turn of events!
The Custodes were reeling from the loss of one of their major battle tanks. The other turned its turret and fired, destroying a Voidweaver in the open while its bolters took down another Player it was retreating from. The remaining Sagittarus fired point blank into the Troupe and took a another down. It was difficult to hit them. First they were in front of them. Then behind them. Then back in front of them again. The sisters closer up charged the Voidweavers lurking behind the building to try and hold them back or destroy them. One suffered an engine hit from a sword but stayed in the air. In return, one sister was rammed into the building and died gasping about how she had been saving her spleen for a bad day or something. Still slipping in the homemade grease spot, Valerian and the entire squad was unable to harm the Avatar, but the consumption of another Sister’s soul did heal it.
On the west flank the Custodes fired their rifles and with some insanely good shooting finished off the damaged Voidweaver behind the building and blew up a second one. The Champion in melee found herself highly outmatched by speed in Melee and was cut to ribbons as well.
The Troupe on the east flank pushed forwards, slaying the two remaining Sagittarum and moving towards the center of the field. Another Sister was crushed into the building saying something about “Suck it Blue!”, but it was hard to make out over the sound of crunching armour and bone. As she was pancaked repeatedly in between an armoured vehicle and an unyielding stone structure, They fired their weapons at the last tank, damaging it heavily.
As it began to list, the remaining Voidweavers moved forwards and finished the tank off with an impressive display of shooting. Well, impressive if you consider what should be expected from an average trained Harlequin gunner as opposed to what they had been shooting like before anyways. They all kept blaming the sunlight for reflecting off the gold plated armour per their debriefing. The Troupe on the west flank moved up and engaged the Sagittarum loitering around the Objective Marker. One was injured by pistols, but then cut down in Melee after failing to defend himself. The Avatar was hurt just as much as it was Healed, so Valerian decided the Sisters of Silence on its other side that were trying to kill it seemed like better troops to lead.
Running out of tactical options, the Custode forces collapsed towards the center and their fearless leader. The last of the Sagittarum charged Ynnead but failed to harm it. More sisters were killed and once again Valerian found himself exposed to the persistent attacks from the Avatar who REALLY wanted to kill him or die trying. It was injured several more times and it was starting to take its toll.
On the east flank the last Sisters was crushed into the wall after managing to tear a panel lose that ended up impaling her unexpectedly.
With the play going exactly as Fate had orchestrated, the Harlequins closed in. The remaining Voidweavers closed in, firing at a key structural weak point, doing little damage. The eastern Troupe closed in as fast as possible to assist, except for one Death Jester who went back for an Objective Marker, falling just short. The western Troupe fired their Fusion Pistols into the same corner, destroying the building section and making room for more combatants. They charged in, fighting and killing the Custodes at an equal rate. Valerian was cut down in the throes of battle and used as a step ladder to get to the Avatar better.
In a last desperate strike, Aleya was able to strike down the Avatar as every Sister was slain around her. The sheer amount of slain meant they were now fighting on a small hill of corpses.
Yvraine dispatched Aleya a moment later with a well practiced series of strikes.
With the Custode forces eliminated or taking a mandatory dirt nap, the Harlequins spread out and secured the field.
The game was a draw 16 to 16! In reality a very simple mistake of not leaving a Death Jester behind resulted in a series of random objectives that would have caused me to get a Moderate Victory of 17 to 13, but I was racing against the clock and we both missed it and noticed it was too late after the fact, hence him falling back.
Regardless, the game went splendidly well and the Dark Eldar Codex is now live! Best part is the Harlequin section is already done for when I get to the Eldar! They can play by themselves, but really perform best when paired with Dark Eldar or Eldar support. This is not a fault to their rules or models. Rather GW just has not released enough for them to be truly standalone in all situations. They played fast and furious and incredibly specialized. I really did enjoy testing them and the Dark Eldar out. On to the next Codex!
Alternate 40k Rules 