Hybridized Eldar v1

I had a chance to get in a fun round with a change of pace for me: no Seer Council.

The list looked like:
Eldrad
Avatar
10 Wraithguard; Spiritseer w/ Conceal
10 Dire Avengers w/ Bright Lance/Shurikannon Serpent
10 Dire Avengers w/ Bright Lance/Shurikannon Serpent
8 Rangers
Fire Prism w/underslung Shuriken Cannon
Fire Prism w/underslung Shuriken Cannon
Wraith Lord w/ Bright Lance, Missile Launcher
Just under 1850

Opponent:
http://wargamerhaven.com/ Xardian's Chaos Space Marines
Sorcerer w/ Wings, Warp Time, Meltabomb
4 Terminators; 3 combi-plasma, one heavy flamer/powerfist
4 Terminators; 3 combi-plasma, one heavy flamer/powerfist
Large squad of Khorne-marked marines with powerfist, two flamers
Large squad of Chaos Glory marines w/ powerfist, two meltaguns
Smaller squad of Plague Marines w/ personal Icon
Small unit of summoned lesser daemons
10-man babysitter squad w/ powerfist, lascannon
8 Havocs w/ 2 autocannon, 2 missile launchers, icon of chaos glory (carried by an autocannon)
1850ish

On the outset...he had some sad dice rolls.

He did get first turn for table quarters w/ 5 objectives. Two were on his side; one near ruins and one in the far corner. Babysitter squad hunkered down on the far objective in his side, and the plague marines deployed a move away from the near-middile objective.

On my side? One objective near cover in the middle; just inside the middle no-man's-land. One in cover just outside my zone, and one on my left flank.

I deploy Wraithguard, attach Eldrad to them, and put the Avatar behind them. Wraithlord hides behind Avatar. Fire Prisms hide behind LARGE cover in my DZ, and my Rangers infiltrate onto the objective just outside my DZ.

Game opens...
He advances, and his Havocs immobilize my right-flank Wave Serpent, and KO the Bright Lance. Everything else advances, save for the babysitter squad.

Turn one? The dice start it. I focus fire into the snipers, and blow away four havocs, including a missile launcher. His Havocs proceed to fail their morale check and run away from their nice sniper perch.

This ability to fail morale checks persist...I give some ground, and buy another turn of shooting.

The Khorne squad takes 50% casualties, breaks, and runs.

Turn 2 sees a single Terminator squad land in my back corridor. Xardian...forgets to fire them. Like me, he seems to take lessons better when he pays for them like that. For the hell of it, he rolls the dice and the plasma would've done nothing.

It becomes moot later because both Fire Prisms move, and one nukes everyone but the flamer/fist fellow. That guy will later move in, assault the fire prism, and glance it. Then, he gets nuked by some Dire Avengers who were falling back.

The other terminators try to land and nuke the Rangers, but deviate, fail to do much, and get nuked off the board by a Fire Prism.

And guess what happened to the Chaos Glory squad? Quarter-inch short of assault, hail of gunfire...he PASSES the morale check, then gets assaulted by the Avatar (which promptly kills all but two, then sweeps them).

The Daemons? Came in on turn 3, and alllmost got into a double-assault with the Chaos Glory squad. Chaos Glory squad was about a quarter-inch short of assault, which resulted in them getting blown to hell and back. The Daemons...claimed a single Wraithguard before the Guard and Eldrad beat the hell out of them. Wraithguard need 4's and 3's; Daemons need 4's and 6's...Doesn't work out well for them.

Game Concession casualties?
He has his Plague Marines and Babysitter squad left.
I've lost a few dire avengers, a ranger, and had a Serpent immobilized.

Conclusions
The Dice had a HELL of a lot to do with it...and the just-short assault. He failed a few Ld checks at critical moments, and had some crappy shooting and scattering on the deep strike. The ballsy one landed and flubbed (or would have, had he remembered to shoot), and the other one scattered a full foot away.

Thoughts on Xard's build
I think Chaos Glory in the big squads is a better idea. Barring that, I'd go for Cult troops for Fearless, since Chaos needs all the bodies it can get.

We discussed it, and I agree with going to a second Havoc squad. If I can slam a lot of gunfire into them, then I can force saves on heavy weapons. Still, dropping the Icon of Chaos Glory in them makes them a bit more likely to pass things. Re-rolling Ld9 checks SHOULD keep a squad solid most of the time.

Thoughts on Hybridized Eldar v1
Eldrad takes some getting used to. Divination could be useful if I go first. Moreover, it's using a lot of psychic powers I'm not accustomed to. The Eldar psychic buffs are very short-ranged; it's generally a 6" deal for Fortune and Guide. Mind War and Eldritch Storm have an 18" range, and Doom has 24". Plus, getting doubles of one power is handy...though in assault, it's only two powers.

The Avatar and Wraith-troops form a very nasty block. The Avengers are mobile reserves, and the Wraith Lord and Serpents are anti-tank. Fire Prisms are anti-tank and anti-troop, though I find that the S9, AP2 template is also fun for hunting Terminators. Had the game gone on longer, I would've been slapping those on the Plague Marines, along with Wraithguard shots. Then, the Avatar smashes them in melee...and then maybe the Babysitter Squad if time permits.