Its The Final Countdown: "The List" And The End of 2010

My original intent when I designed “The List” was to play a themed list in a tournament and win. This is proving to be very difficult. I have to sit and think. To be a douche or not be a douche? Do I continue to try and develop “The List” in its current form and see how far I get in the GT at Adepticon? Do I throw on a polo, pop the collar and give in and design a real douchey list that will not make any friends. Do I go halfway. Thats what has been on my mind since I played Old School Terminator week before this past week.

The Game vs his Tyranids started out rather well. I was up on kill points until turn 4 and he quickly made them up and shot ahead. We have gone back and fourth in games, but this was a pretty sound beating. The Doom of Malan'tai was a beast and ate hearty on my guardians. They were out in the open and unprotected. As were the Vibrocannons. Old School also learned from past experience and got nowhere near Eldrad and his coterie of Warlocks. I was able to kill only one Trygon Prime and injure the others with Mind War until the moved out of range. Old School is trying to convince me to pop the collar and go to the dark side, not literally as in Dark Eldar as appealing as it sounds now.

So I stand with 1 win out of 5 games. Not great at all. I have designed a list that I view as a tournament douche list and I intend to play it soon. I feel kind of dirty doing it, but I guess I have to try it and see how it does in comparison. I am going to go all out and run the duel bike council. I also designed a less beardy list where I finally use one of my Autarchs to get my reserves in when I want them and do some solo anti tank work. I have some work to do as I must finalize a list to give myself time to buy models if need be and modify my existing ones so the are WYSWYG.

In other news I have completed my first squad of Kabalite Warriors. They have been built to be A squad of Trueborns. They will be going to paint this weekend along with their raider. I have also completed a very simple mod for my Duke Sliscus. I will be doing a Mod for Baron Sathonyx once I pick up a box of Hellions in a couple weeks. I really like all the bits you get with the dark Eldar kits. It makes kit bashing so much easier.

This year has been quite eventful. I started the blog this past April, We have seen some very nice codex's come out, namely the Dark Eldar. Tournaments have come and gone and we have a new year of them to look forward to. We have also seen the 3^rd party miniature market take off. Companies Like Chapter House Studios, Paulson Games and the like have been churning out great mod parts and miniatures to fill in the gaps GW likes to leave. It is very sad that GW is now suing them for IP infringement. Looks like I have to put in a Chapter house order very very soon.

I have had a great year and I look forward to 2011. I hope to bring you more on the blog. More tactics and more crunch rather than me just blowing hot air. I also have some other stuff I am trying to get going. Namely a weekly pod cast or at very least a nice round table of the Lansing area bloggers and hobbyists.

I would also like to announce that this March I will be running a Tournament. This 1850 Rogue Trader style event will take place at our FLGS Evolution Games. I will have more details as I work them out, but I am hoping for a good showing and to have some nice prizes.

Well 2010 has been a blast and I look forward to 2011.  See you next year.

Until then........

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lets Get Freaky: "The Freak Show" pt 2

We have covered the HQ , Troops and Elite slots for the Freak show List. The Heavy slots are the last slots to talk about. We have two different units to add to this menagerie of freaks. The Chronos Parasite Engine and the Talos Pain Engine.

The Talos is familiar to Dark Eldar players. Its basically a floating Wraithlord. The Talos has grown up though in the new codex. You have many more options when outfitting your Talos. Twin linked Liquifier guns, Ichor Injector, which causes instant death with a failed toughness test, and Chain flails, which is what I prefer to give the Talos. This lets you roll two dice to determine the number of attacks it gets in close combat. You can also upgrade the twin linked Splinter cannon to either a Stinger pod, twin linked haywire blaster and a twin linked heat lance. This gives you some flexibility. The Stinger pod is a strength 5 assault 2 blast weapon. Nice for dealing with groups. The Haywire blaster is a Haywire Grenade launcher. It is strength 4 and AP 4 and has the Haywire effect on vehicles. The heat lance, well its Lance and Melta. Granted only strength 6, but at 9 inches its very deadly. I like to mix it up. I like to use the Haywire Blaster and the Stinger pods it gives you a mix. For the purposes of this list it gives you some more anti tank ability and anti infantry. The Talos can shoot and tear apart tanks with its claws and then tear apart the contents. This guy also has the Power From Pain rule. This makes him very tough to kill. It does lack an invulnerable save , but only AP 1 and 2 weapons will cancel out the FNP. Power weapons will too, but unless they swarm the Talos and use members of a squad as ablative wounds for a power fist you should not have to worry a whole bunch about close combat. Having a toughness of 7 deters many from getting into close combat, especially when it has an initiative of 4 base.

The second Heavy choice is a Chronos Parasite Engine. This is basically a pain token generating baby Talos. It has two weapons choices in addition to its Spirit Syphon. The Spirit Syphon is a template weapon. If you inflict any casualties with it the Chronos generates a pain token it can give to any unit within 12 inches. The Spirit Vortex does the same but at longer range and with a large blast. The Spirit Probe dies this in close combat. So if you keep key units close to this guy you can really get your army juiced up quick if you are killing models. Thats the key only a single model has to die not a whole unit. The Chronos is just as tough as the Talos but only has a strength of 5. Its Weapon Skill is also 3 instead of 5 like the Talos. I prefer to keep the Chronos out of close combat. I arm him with a Spirit Vortex and keep him close to the Talos. This allows you to generate tokens quick for your Monstrous Heavy Support choices.

So I present “The Freak Show” One of the Few lists I will actually post . They key to the list is the fact Each unit has a Haemonculis in it. Thus each unit has at least 2 pain tokens to start. Also the Heavy Hitters start in reserve and come on the board Via Webway portal.

HQ: Ancient Haemonculis armed with a Huskblade, Soul Trap, Stinger pistol and Crucible of Malediction.

HQ: Ancient Haemonculis armed with Flesh Gauntlet, Stinger Pistol, Archangel of Pain and Webway Portal

There are also 3 Haemonculi with Agonizers, Stinger Pistols, Liquifier Guns. Two have Hex Rifles and one has a shatter shard. You can take up to 3 Haemonculi as a single HQ choice.

Troops: 3x units of 9 Wracks. One wrack in each unit has a Liquifier Gun. All are mounted on Raiders with Night Shields and Flicker Fields. They also have Torment Grenade Launchers and Grisly Trophy’s.

Elites: 1x Unit of 8 Grotesques. One is armed with a Liquifier gun. ( The Ancient Haemonculis Without the Webway Portal and One Haemonculis Accompanies this unit.

Heavy: Chronos Parasite Engine armed with Spirit Probe and Spirit Vortex.

Heavy: Talos Pain Engine armed with Stinger pod, Chain Flails and additional close combat weapon

Heavy: Talos Pain Engine armed with Haywire Blaster, Chain Flails and additional close combat weapon

So that is the list. It is a very nice Themed list that is very unique to run on the table. I will be trying out this version this coming week if there are any takers. It is weak against armor. It is also doomed if you loose your transports.

I hope I can end the year with a nice Battle Report with this list. We will see. This week I will also give my current analysis of the list. I am loosing faith in doing a themed tournament list after 3 loses. Including a heart breaker to Old Schools semi 5 dimensional nids. I will also have my Year in review new years day. Once I wake up and get over my hangover that is.

Until then.......

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas Mon'Keigh

I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas.  I hope everybody has a safe and stress free weekend.  Just drop me a message so I can give you the address to send all the presents to.  Everybody sending me Forgeworld stuff gets priority.

I plan on relaxing this weekend.  I have a plan of epic scale I am laying the foundation work to while I am not working this weekend.  I also plan to get back on a painting schedule to get some Eldar finished and start my Dark Eldar projects.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas! 

Lets Get Freaky: The "Freak Show" list pt 1

I decided I needed to tweak and experiment with “The Freak show” list a little more. I have gotten two games in with this themed list at the 1500 point level and it has some major faults and weaknesses that I need to address. This of course will be easier at the 1850 point level to deal with. The list is, for those of you who have not read the first posting about this, a list themed around Haemonculi and Wracks. I was inspired after watching the movie “Hellraiser “ while perusing the new codex.

The core of the list centers around Wracks. Normally and elites choice, they become a troops choice when a Haemonculi is included in the army list. This follows the 5^th edition theme of special characters , miscellaneous independent characters and squad upgrades making a unit count as a troops choice. This is the second unit in the codex that can be counted as troops, the other being Hellions when you take Baron Sathonyx as an HQ choice.

Wracks are a curious unit and must be used very carefully. If the standard Dark Eldar army can be considered very difficult to play even for an experienced player, as Phil Kelly the writer of the codex suggest, a Wrack based army is even harder. They are almost purely a close combat unit. You can upgrade one in five in the squad to have a liqufier gun, which is dubious at best, but other than that they have no shooting. This also means a lack of anti tank weaponry. You basically have the Dark lances on the raiders and that’s it. They also only have a 6+ armor save. This kind of makes people, except former or current Ork players, shy away from them. They do have their advantages though. Being a close combat unit they are armed with two close combat weapons. This gives them 3 attacks on the charge. To top it off they are a 4+ poisoned weapon. This opens up a lot of possibilities especially if you upgrade one to an Acothyst as you can arm this leader variety with an Agoniser or several other pieces arcane close combat goodness. With a Weapon Skill of 4 Wracks can hit and wound just about everything on a 4+. Given they have a base initiative of 4 you are hitting at the same time or before most units. This is not to bad. If you pick your battles well you can come out with minimal casualties. With the Altered Physique rule Wracks also start with a pain token. This gives you FNP right off the bat. Stick in a haemonculi with the unit and the have furious charge. Granted the boost to strength may seem wasted, but remember you get to re roll wounds if the strength of the model is equal to or greater than the toughness of the model its hitting with a poisoned weapon. Having an initiative of 5 makes it so you usually hit first as well.

SO we have our Haemonculi filling up the HQ slots and Wracks in the troops. Our Elites slot is occupied by Grotesques. These ogryn sized monstrosities are larger versions of the Wracks. This is an upgrade form the last codex as Grotesques filled the spot Wracks not fills. These hulking brutes also start the game with a pain token. They must be led by an Independent character though or they run the possibility of going on a rampage and being removed form the board after having their way with every unit within 2D6 inches be it friend or foe. Since they occupy 2 slots in a transport I have taken a different approach to delivering this unit to the board. I can only fit 4 in a raider with at least one Haemonculis leading the unit. I want to run a bigger unit that that. Despite the FNP and being toughness 5 with 3 wounds only running 4 will see these expensive abominations wiped rather quickly. To counter this I deliver this unit via Webway Portal. This also allows me to bring in any units I hold in reserve, as long as its not a vehicle, in from the portal. These guys are pretty tough in close combat and will have furious charge and FNP right off the bat. Not to shabby. Old School Terminator spotted this nice resin model that I am pretty sure is supposed to be a grotesque. Check it out over at Paulson Games.

Well I have gone on enough so far. Looks like this will be a two part post. I will cover the heavy slots and post the actual list this weekend. I have not been able to play the list at the 1850 level yet and I plan on doing so soon. I think it has potential and is a great theme list. I am hoping to play a Tau army for a nice Fluff filled battle report mimicking Urien Rakarths pillaging of the Tau planet of Vigos.

I hope I have some takers.

Until then....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Battle Report: "The List" vs Mech Guard

This past Wednesday I got a chance to test “The List” against one of our FLGS's regulars. Deus is usually known for his very nicely painted Dark Angels force. I have tangled with the hunters of the fallen on a couple different occasions. Both times they gave me a run for my money. This time I squared off against his Imperial Guard army which has not been in the shop as of yet. This Mech Guard army was a sight to behold. Nice lines of Chimeras with a Devil Dog and 2 Leman Russ battle tanks. Supported by a Hydra flak battery. I brought “The List” . This incarnation dropped the Avatar and a Fire Prism in favor of a squadron of Vyper bikes and a support battery of Vibrocannons.

We played a traditional pitched battle for objectives.

I placed my two objectives with in reach of my two guardian squads. The Vibrocannons set up next near the objective I placed in the corner. The Fire Prism set up in the middle of my deployment zone while the Vypers set up to have a go at flank of the army. Deus Set up a nice gun line of chimeras supported by the Leman Russ's. The Devil Dog was going to come up the flank to take my corner objective supported by the company command squad. The Hydras set up in the opposite corner of my Vibrocannons. Deus Seized the Initiative so I redeployed using Eldrads ability to do so. I repositioned he and his squad so I could rush the solid line of Chimeras and mortar team set up near them in cover. I also repositioned the Vypers to hit the Hydra Batteries as long as they survived. If not I still had a Bike squad and War Walker squadron in reserve.

Turn 1

The first turn saw me take a hellish amount of fire, most of which was concentrated on Eldrads Wave Serpent. It only resulted in a shaken result though thanks to Spirit Stones (spirit stones reduce stunned results to shaken for those of you not familiar with the Eldar codex) I lost a couple of Guardians and the Fire Prism. The Vypers took fire but only one took any damage. Thank the maker it was only a stunned result. I advanced my army in my turn one. Eldrad and his Warlocks moved flat out in their wave serpent towards the gun line. The Vibrocannons and Guardian squad did not move while Guardian squad 2 moved towards some area terrain stretching out their numbers to stay within 3 inches of the objective they were holding. The Vypers and Vibrocannons opened fire. The Vibrocannons stunned the Devil Dog and the Company Command's Chimera.

Turn 2

The Guard Advanced trying to encircle Eldrad. They opened fire pouring tons of fire into Eldrads Wave Serpent, this time doing nothing. The mortars caused one of the guardian units to break and some of their number went down in a hail of shells. The Vyper Squadron was also cut down to one Vyper armed only with its under slung shuriken cannon. In my turn two the War Walkers came strolling in on the board edge closest to the Hydra Flak tanks. The Vyper Retreated while the second Guardian squad advanced. Eldrad and his coterie of Warlocks disembarked. The Vibrocannons opened up stunning a Chimera and a Leman Russ. The War Walkers laid to waste the Hydras with concentrated missile and scatter laser fire. In the assault phase Eldrad and his boys destroyed 3 chimeras and most of the Guardsman they contained. The Wave Serpent opened fire killing some mortars but their resolve held.

Turn 3

Turn 3 saw some very bloody combat. The Guard commanders opened up with everything they had on Eldrad heedless of the safety of their own men. Warlocks were lost. Guardians were also lost as the mortars continued their relentless barrage. The amount of fire was reduced due to damage sustained form the previous turn. In my turn the Guardians rallied and marched forward. The War walkers continued their march across the flank laying into some guard squads now freed of their transports. The Vibrocannons stunned the same Chimera and Leman Russ this time removing a weapon from the Chimera. Eldrad and his warlocks shot up two squads of guard than ks to a well placed Destructor. They then multi assaulted the Guardsman and a Leman Russ wiping out both squads and destroying the tank. The Devil dog has suffered a weapon destroyed result on the melta cannon early on. It was close enough for the Guardian squad next to the vibro cannons to glace it to an immobilized and a second weapon destroyed result.

Turn 4

The Guards resolve was still holding. The advanced despite losses. The mortars continued to pound the Guardians. The lone Leman Russ backed as it was only stunned. The Master of Ordnance who finally was able to fire last turn continued the barrage which claimed the lives of several Warlocks. The Guard began to draw in and consolidate. They held one objective very tenaciously. The Bike Squad came in on my turn and rushed towards the lone objective held by the guard. Eldrad separated from the lone remaining warlock to help the embattled Guardian unit that had been charged by a sentinel. The Warlock took out the remaining mortar team closest to him and advanced on the remaining Leman Russ. Eldrad charged a Chimera between him and the Embattled Guardian unit. He only manged to make it unable to move and shoot. This was good as it was moving towards one of my objectives. The remaining Vyper had moved to support the Bike squad. The war walkers popped the Chimera that had moved to support the 3 Guardsman holding on to their lone objective.

Turn 5

The Guard now redoubled their efforts. The Vibrocannon battery took major fire and retreated from the board The bikes also took 2 casualties as they were lit up by las cannon and mortar fire. The Leman Russ moved back away from the warlock and in support of the last mortar team. The bikes moved in to finish off the Guard Unit holding the objective. The war walkers moved into engage the Leman Russ. After that killed off the occupants of the Chimera they had destroyed in the previous turn. Eldrad and The guardian squad moved towards the now unstunned Chimera that had plans to tank shock due to its inability to fire. In the assault phase the Guard Squad was forcibly removed for their transport.

Turn 6&7

The Guard was now on the ropes The Leman Russ attempted to tank shock the Warlock after an assault from the war walkers failed to kill it. The Guardsman pinned form their vehicle being destroyed were told to get back in the fight by the company commander and they opened fire and then assaulted the Guardians on my corner objective. The Guardians broke in the face of the assault and were cut down. The Bike squad had claimed the Imperial objective and the War Walkers destroyed the remaining Leman Russ as the Warlock was finishing off the last Mortar team. The last Guardian unit moved to the second objective they had moved off from to claim it once more. Eldrad moved to kill the Guard unit holding my previously held objective. He failed to make the distance in a charge.

The game ended with me holding two objectives to his one. He had 2 Guardsman and the Company Command Squad in their Chimera left in the end. I am very happy with how “The List” did in this version. The Vibrocannons proved to be very valuable since they auto glace vehicles and only one of them has to hit for them to be effective. I am not pleased with the Vyper and Fire Prism though and these elements may be changed. I may actually add a squad of Aspect Warriors. Some Dark Reapers would have been very helpful. A Night Spinner would have been nice as well. So we will see what I decide on. Next time I will cover my 1850 “Freak Show” List and also my new Combined force of Duke Sliscus and Baron Sathonyx.

Until then

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Death From the Skies: Baron Sathonyx

We all know how much I love Duke Sliscus. Well the old duke has been doing ok, but I wanted to kick it up a notch and play to The Dukes strengths. This of course means using wych cult to take advantage of the two dice for determining combat drugs. I have also been experimenting with different characters and units in the army. This time its time to add another renegade from Dark Eldar society and a unit to go along with him. Time for Baron Sathonyx

This crazy man is a disgraced noble in search of vengeance. He is also basically the leader of the Commorrite underworld so he is a very nice partner, as dubious as it is, to Duke Sliscus. So lets take a look at this rather audacious and dangerous character.

The Baron is a hellion basically. He is armed with the standard Hellglaive and a splinter pistol. His Skyboard is a custom job that increase his strength by 2 on the charge. So this beast is strength 6 when he charges. The sky board also has a type of Nightshield on it so any unit he is a part of gains stealth. To top it all off he also gives you +1 to the roll to choose sides, aka +1 roll to see who goes first. Not to shabby for 105 points. He also has a Shadow field and a Phantasm grenade launcher. A very nice package. Probably the best thing though is he is now part of the trend of “unit x” counts as troops as long as he is in the army. I think the trend started with Codex Space Marines. You now see at least one character in each codex that does it now. In this case Hellions count as troops in armies containing Baron Sathonyx. This opens up a lot of possibilities, not to mention all of your fast attack slots. You can field a very large mobile force without raiders. I think this is possibly the answer to doing fast hard hitting armies with minimal kill points for the Dark Eldar. You can field huge units of hellions and use mob tactics to overwhelm the enemy. Having squadrons of Heat Lance carrying Reavers in support and The Duke with Trueborns and Ravagers popping tanks bringing up the rear you can have a very mobile force that delivers pain very quickly and up close. Having supporting units to pop transports is the key so the Hellions can shoot and get into hand to hand with the occupants. This is also true for the Reavers as it seems you can inflict more casualties with the Bladevanes on exposed targets than just shooting them.

Although they only have a 5+ save Hellions are a very nice fast attack choice and are even better as a troops choice. They can essentially move 18 inches in a turn if you include assaulting and they also have a assault 2 poison weapon that has a range of 18 inches. Once they start getting pain tokens they get really nasty. Strength 5 on the charge with an initiative of 7 with 2 pain tokens. I just wish the Hellglaives were power weapons. Probably my favorite part of the Hellion unit is the Stunclaw upgrade you can give the Helliarch. After using their hit and run ability you roll a D6 and on a roll of a 2+ you drag an independent character out of the unit and take them with you. How entertaining is that. It is very useful when you get charged. It allows you to run away with the enemy leader and beat the crap out of him on your turn. This is of course is while the rest of your army guns down his retinue during your turn as they may not benefit from certain protections while the leader is not in the unit. You could possibly drag they guy back to your lines if you make your hit and run rolls and stunclaw checks every turn. The Duke does like pain tokens pre beaten and gift wrapped. Using The Baron gives these guys lots of flexibility. It allows you to get to objectives fast and deal with the troops holding it. He also gives the unit he is attached to a decent cover save as long as you hug the cover and take chances moving into and out of cover. At only 105 points he is well worth it.

My first big purchase of Dark Eldar is going to include at least one big unit of Hellions A warrior unit and Kabalite Trueborns will make up the Dukes contingent, with the Hellions Reavers and Wyches making up his allies.

Hellions are a great unit that I have not given a fair try yet. This of course is changing. After all this I never got into the fact they have combat drugs. I don't usually include them due to the variably nature and you should not rely on getting a certain one every game. Granted the Duke doubles your odds, but still sound strategy is the way to go.

So there ya go, my 2 cents about Hellions and my second favorite renegade. Look for a battle report in the near future with these two.

Next time I will have a battle report using my updated list for Adepticon. I squared up against a FLGS regular who has not been able to make it a lot lately. Deus brought his semi secret Mech Guard army and gave me a run for my money. So how did it turn out? You will find out next time. All I can say is I am happy with the changes and I love Vibrocannons.

So until then..............

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Road To Adpeticon: "The List" Gets a Tune Up

Well I have to say I am excited. I received my old school Eldar battle force yesterday that I found on eBay. You know the one actually worth the retail price. 3 jet bikes, 20 guardians, a Vyper and a Falcon for $70 bucks. Not a bad deal. I also discovered that the new Dark Eldar codex is now in Army Builder. Lastly I revamped “The List” and it turned out more themed and I think harder hitting and functional. I am looking forward to testing it on Wednesday.

The units I removed really changed the feel of the list after I added their replacements. I removed the Avatar and a fire prism. I added in a squadron of Vypers and changed the weapon load out on the War Walkers. I also added in a bit of artillery in the form of Vibrocannons. I decided after loosing an objective game because my guardian squad was wiped out by drop pod delivered dreadnoughts I needed a better defense for the objective, to back up the Guardian squad holding it. I may change to Distortion cannons depending how well the Vibrocannons do. I have actually never used them before and many Eldar players don't use them let alone stationary artillery. I opted for the Vibrocannons because of their range and because of their ability to hit multiple units. They are also a pinning weapon so any chance to pin a unit is good. Distortion cannons are way more devastating, but have a much shorter range and make themselves a target quicker. Being AP 2 and always wounding on a 2+ with instant death on a 6+ always seems to make opponents nervous especially when they are small blast barrage weapons, go figure.

It really is a hard choice given the nature of most lists I may face. Deep striking drop pod lists make range irrelevant so the Distortion cannons are a better choice. Armies keeping their distance and with swarms of troops make Vibrocannons better especially since they auto glace vehicles. Neither may work and I may just stick a Night Spinner in.

I swapped out the bright lances on the war walkers for missile launchers and the bright lances on the loan wave serpent for missile launchers as well. Granted this removes my lance weapons but I still have enough anti armor in my opinion. SO the great experiment continues. I hope to get a game in with the new list tomorrow.

Later this week I will be discussing a Dark Eldar character that I plan on adding to a modified version of my Duke Sliscus list. I have been experimenting with units and character and I thought its time for a unit I never even used in the old codex, Hellions. So of course I have to talk about Baron Sathonyx. I will also go over the 1850 point version of the themed list I like to call “The Freak Show”. Haemonculi, Wracks and Grotesques oh my!

Until then...............

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday Update: The lunch break report

Just a quickie while I am on break at work.  My buddy the Storm Lord has been working on the new Necron Tomb Stalker.  He has a a nice build series started go check it out at Chaos Kingdoms.

There may be some battle reports from the Storm Lords Layer as we get closer to Adepticon as he has a rather nice gaming table built for secret list testing.  After the bruising I took from Vogrin I need to do some major testing and revamping.

I will have some more Dark Eldar goodness this week as well as a Newly revamped  1850 Adepticon list so stay tuned.  I will be going over the full 1850 "Freak Show" list I plan on using against Old School Terminator in the coming week.  It should be fun.  I really do like the Haemonculis based list despite its drawbacks, which I will cover tomorrow or possibly Tuesday.



Until then

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  

The List Development Continues

So far I have gone 0-2 with “The List”. I lost a very bloody fight to Vogrin this past Wednesday. It was a classic pitched battle for kill points. I left 3 units in reserve and then seized the initiative. My alpha strike lacked punch though. This is the one big flaw that is emerging in the list. I lack a good ranged punch. I have been playing the Dark Eldar so much lately I am remembering the lack of long range punch a craftworld army has if you do not really design the list for that. I don't have these problems with the Dark Kin as I can still spam the Dark Lances with impunity. Vogrins Guard list is pretty solid. It lacks the usual mega unit you see so often. It is very well balanced and this is why I like to test lists against him. His armies are very well thought out and will really exploit weakness when found. Case in point I did not get off a single Fortune the entire game. In fact the only power I got off was an Eldritch Storm on a Valkyrie. Vogrin did not have any luck either as he lost sanctioned psykers like crazy due to my Runes of Warding. His primaris even took a wound due to perils. The loss of Fortune really put a damper on things. I lost my warlocks very quickly and I lost the Avatar in turn 2 due to 4 failed armor and invulnerably saves in a row.

So the question is what can I do to really take out armor and take advantage of an alpha strike? I really don't know yet honestly. I need to stay in theme. I am very hesitant to use fire dragons as they tend to die quick after wasting a tank. As it stands I also have no aspect warriors so I can allow myself one unit. I am leaning towards Dark Reapers as they are the most popular Aspect shrine on Ulthwe. We will see. Maugan Ra and squad of Reapers may replace the Avatar. The bike Squad may shrink as well.

Plain and simple I was rolling like crap and I lack the long range punch. I have another list I am developing, but it is not a list I will make friends with. In fact I am kind of ashamed I made it. It is still in theme, but I let myself succumb to blatant use of a “death star” unit. In fact I use two. Double Seer councils of doom. Almost 1000 points of killy goodness containing 6 kill points. I will stay strong though and continue to develop the themed list.

So I have some more games to play and some changes and development to do. I have made some nice acquisitions on Ebay for the Craftworlders recently so I have some more options.

Adepticon is still a few months away so I have time.

In Dark Eldar news I have gotten some together. I do not have pictures as of yet, but I am very impressed with the detail and completeness of the kits. I do wish the warrior squad came with more special and heavy weapons though. I have to get some more blasters and splinter cannons to complete the Trueborn squad I am building to escort the The Duke. I procured an Archon model today which will see some extensive modification to turn him into The Duke.

So that’s it for today. I am kind of frazzled as it is finals week for me and I have one more to go. Once I am done I plan on diving in and getting a solid month of 40K list development, model building and painting done. So more next week on “The List” and some more on Dark Eldar. I am hoping to get in a battle with Old School Terminator next week with “The Freak Show” against a rather dubious Fabius Bile list he has developed. It will be a circus of freaks to be sure.

So until then.......

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!

Quote the Raven, You're never more: The Voidraven Bomber

Besides the Mad Duke Sliscus probably my favorite unit from the new codex is the Void Raven Bomber. This hefty piece of killy hardware is the pinnacle of Dark Eldar weapons technology. Armed with 2 Void Lances and a void mine. The Void Lance is a strength 9 AP 2 lance. Me thinks this bodes well for future weapons in the Eldar codex when it eventually comes out, before 6^th edition I hope. The void mine has the same strength and AP but it is a small blast that can be dropped over anything the Void Raven fly’s over. Combine this with a nice selection of missiles and you have a gunboat from the nightmares of an Imperial tank commander

What I really like about this unit is the options and tactical flexibility it offers. Although it is 40 points more than the Ravager base, I can do more with the Void Raven. It is a multi role bomber capable of dealing with tanks and infantry. Its base weaponry is armor killing at its finest. You can them outfit the Bomber with missiles to help deal with infantry. So lets take a look at the missiles available.

Missiles

Monoscythe missile- The Monoscythe is a strength 6 AP 5 Large blast with a range of 48 inches. This is the basic missile for both the Void Raven and the Razorwing. With a range of 48 inches this missile can do some real damage to a lightly armored infantry unit.

Necrotoxin missile- This missile is very deadly. It is a 2+ poison weapon with an AP of 5. To top that off it causes pinning. This is also a large blast so pesky high toughness infantry can be really hurt by a salvo of these babies. This may be my favorite missile due to it only costing 10 points. It deals with tough lightly armored units very well.

Shatterfield missile- Next to the necrotoxin missile this is my favorite. This strength 7 missile lets you re roll failed wounds. It is also a large blast. I really like this missile for large groups of high toughness models. You are wounding on 2's and re roll any failed wounds. This forces lots of saves and is a bargain for only 10 points.

Implosion missile- The implosion missile is very deadly and expensive. 30 points is the price for instant death. The small blast template ensures good coverage. This missile uses a wound test. You test versus the wound characteristic printed in the stat line of the model. If it fails it suffers instant death. This missile is nice because it is an AP 2 small blast that could potentially kill a multi wound model outright. Granted you can buy 3 of the other missiles for the cost of one of these.

My typical load out for missiles as of now is 2 shatterfields and 2 necrotoxins. This gives me some very nice killing power for massed groups of infantry. After a turn of long range armor killing I move back to a safe distance for some missile barrages into the exposed troops. This seems to have the best effect.

Given the options for deployment I try to keep the void ravens in reserve unless I am getting the first turn. If I do start them on the board I am adding flicker fields and night shields and deploying them well out of gun range for all but the most long range guns. Since you have a lot of points locked into this one unit you have to play it smart. Although the bombing ability is nice it should be used on target of opportunity. That is targets that are a safe bet. You should not go out of your way to bomb a unit when you will clearly be in a position to get blasted by massed melta fire. I really wish the bomb could be used like a swooping hawk grenade pack or when you go supersonic, but alas you can't. I like to deep strike the Void Raven when I do not have first turn. This allows me to get optimal firing position on artillery and armor that is turtling in the rear. You can't always get optimal firing position when just coming on form the board edge. Also you can shoot all your weapons so why not do it.

Since my force is based on Duke Sliscus the Void Raven fits in with the army theme of deep striking and hard fast moving units. I have been fielding two of them in battles to great effect. I also use one with a screen of 2 ravagers. I will arm one Ravager just with disintegrators to take advantage of the one two punch with the other one. You pop the transport and then hose the occupants. This allows the Void Raven to concentrate on the heavy armor until it is gone. Then it can hit the infantry. This multi role ability is why the Void Raven is worth the 145 points.

SO there ya go, my favorite heavy support choice in the Dark Eldar Codex.  If rumors are true we will be seeing a model for this bad boy before June.  Cross your fingers. Next time I will be hopefully doing a battle report versus Inquisitor Vogrin and his Imperial Guard army as it has been doing very well at the shop and I need to test my Adepticon list. Also I will maybe have some pictures up of my New Dark Eldar. I picked up a unit of warriors and a Raider. I will be tearing into them this week.

Until then.........

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Road to Adepticon: The Themed List Development

As I prepare for the epic war that is Adepticon, I find myself putting a lot of time and effort into developing a list. The tournament circuit is pretty competitive and I have taken it upon myself to play, what many call an uncompetitive kind of army list. The purely themed list. In an atmosphere of massed las/plas razorbacks, imperial guard mechanized armies and general min maxed army flagrancy I have given myself a monumental task.

So I ask myself what elements are needed for a competitive list and what do I need to do to keep it in the theme. These two things are not diametrically opposed as some would think. Sadly you can make some strongly themed lists that are still min maxed with some of the codex’s out there, Space Wolves, and I have to take that into consideration as well

What I need for the competitive side of the list is enough troops choices to take and hold objectives. I also need to be able to kill armor and be able to withstand assaults. Basically I need to be able to get kill points and not give them up. In a purely themes Ulthwe list I need to be Guardian heavy and lite on Aspect Warriors.

With that in mind I designed a nice guardian heavy army centered around 3 Guardian units, one of which was on bikes. I bolster the Guardians with Warlocks and The Avatar. I have a nice size Seer council as well.

This is just known as “The List” I don't want to give away details as I don't want to see any carbon copies and its still under development. I did get a chance to use “The List” Yesterday though. The Judge and I squared off. Unknown to me was the fact The Judge was trying out a Space Wolves list. Lots of Long Fangs and Grey Hunters in drop pods . It was a take and hold spear head deployment. The Judge Got the First turn. I deployed all my forces with the exception of one unit out flanking. I set up nice a spread out leaving no gas for drop pods to come in. This forced The Judge to land his first 3 pods in front of my army. The long fangs took out Eldrads wave serpent and the prism cannon off one of the fire prisms. All in all it was not bad. Eldrad and the Avatar rallied the troops and gave a retort to the space wolves attack. Shooting saw numerous Grey Hunter killed and a Long Fang pack wiped from the board. In the Assault phase 2 Grey Hunter packs were wiped out by Eldrad and his Warlocks and the Avatar. Turn two saw the arrival of a dreadnought. He engaged the Guardians holding my objective with his heavy flamer. The long fangs continued their barrage. They apparently had gone senile as their aim was off and the superior technology of the Eldar prevailed over the silly rockets of the Mon-keigh. Eldrad moved in support of the Bike squad that was sadly wiped out in the pace wolves assault phase, but not before taking 4 Grey hunters with them. Eldrad and his warlocks saw to the death of the remaining Mon-Keigh swine. The fire Prism laid into a long fang pack and killed a a couple of them. The avatar started destroying drop pods as no targets were in range to vent his rage upon. Eldrad moved towards the dreadnought as did the Avatar in the wake of the assault phase.

Turn 3 saw the arrival of the wolf guard battle leader and the 4^th pack of Grey Hunters, now the last pack. The second dreadnought also arrived. Sadly the combined fire of the dreads followed by an assault by one wiped out my severely depleted unit of Guardians on my objective. After a mass of shuriken fire the last Guardian unit charged the Grey hunters and the battle leader. This was to delay them until the Avatar and Eldrad could get there. I should have moved them away to preserve my remaining troops choice. They held out until turn 4. Sadly a really bad roll for difficult terrain by the Avatar costed me the game. He failed to get to the Grey Hunter pack so the Guardians were wiped out and the treacherous and sneaky battle leader lead his squad in a cowardly retreat towards my objective. Apparently I was to consumed with the battle lust of Khaine to remember that the Grey hunters were troops. So with that as his only unit on the board, besides one drop pod, The Judge managed to win as we did not get a turn 6.

I am pretty happy with how the list did. It was purely tactical errors that caused my loss. I think I may change it a bit. The jet bike squad may get shrunken and turned into a late game contestor or support unit. I may just remove it and put in some close combat troops as well or even some dark reapers. We will see. I plan on trying it out Saturday.

So next time another bat rep and some more Dark Eldar talk. I am going to cover my favorite new toy. The Void Raven Bomber.

Until Then......

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Duke Rides Again: Evolution Games Tourney Aftermath.

This passed Saturday I played in a good old fashioned Rogue Trader style 1850 point tournament at my local FLGS Evolution Games. I decided to bring the Dark Eldar. In fact I went with a mostly Wych Cult army. My list consisted of

The Duke

Lady Malys

3 squads of 10 wychs with Hekatrix armed with an agonizer and blast pistol. All had haywire grenades and the Hekatrix had a phantasm grenade launcher.

1 squad of 8 Kabalite Trueborns with 2 blasters and 2 splinter cannons. 3 had shard carbines while the Dracon sported a phantasm grenade launcher, ghost plate, blast pistol and agonizer.

All squads were mounted on Raiders with Flicker Fields and Night Shields. They also had Grisly Trophy’s and Tormentor Grenade Launchers.

3 Ravagers one of which had all Disintegrators. They too had Night Shields and Flicker Fields.

Game one was vs an ork horde heavy on Nobs. I faced two Nob Squads of doom one of which was mounted on bikes. He rushed forward having gotten first turn but really did not do anything other than that. This put me into position to get Gain some pain tokens. I dispatched his two Defcoptas giving The Duke and his unit and a wych unit a pain token. This put their total to 2 as I rolled a 6 for my combat drugs. The two Ravagers on the table, I opted to keep one in reserve with 2 wych units Immobilized his battle wagon while the raiders blew up the truk carrying one of the Nob squads. Turn 2 saw the further advance of the orks and some shooting which was rather ineffectual. I now had My wyches and the dukes unit In range of the Nob squads. After My reserve rolls being lack luster, I closed in. The Duke and his unit Disembarked And shot the Biker Nob squad, with Warboss, with impunity killing 3 nobs. The wyches did likewise to the now on foot second Warboss and Nob squad, with the support of the raiders. The Ravager continued to pound the battle wagon destroying a big shoota. In the assault phase The Duke killed the war boss while Lady Malys and the Trueborns killed 3 more bikers. Having lost the combat they were swiftly cut down as they only inflicted 2 wounds on the Dukes unit. The other Nob unit was more successful but failed to win for two turns. They were eventually whittled down but managed to survive the whole game, well at least the pain buy was alive. The wyches managed to hold two objective in the end. One after they wiped out a unit of grots and then a unit of burna boys who tried to lend support, the other was in my deployment zone . Sadly the Duke died in close combat after his unit was laid to waste by grotzookas. I won none the less.

Game two I squared up against Vogrin in a grudge match. Sadly this game went down hill fast. Scared of the mystics the Inquisitor brought with him, I deployed on the board despite not getting first turn. That was what sealed my fate. In the opening salvo the Manticore got 3 rockets on the Dukes unit after his raider, and two others had been downed by battle cannon and multi laser fire. The salvo immobilized one of the Ravagers and wiped out the Duke and his unit. I swear I always roll a one on my shadow field saves when it really matters. I managed to kill a couple tanks and a unit before being tabled in turn 4.

My third game saw me facing the Emperors finest, the Ultrmarines. This was a dawn of war mission so I started with everything off the table and gave the first turn to my opponent. He also opted for nothing on the table besides a squad of scouts. He then held most of his forces in reserve. This proved great for me as I just picked apart his army form a distance. It was turn 4 before he got any kill points because by this time I closed the distance. It got pretty bloody, but I manged to wipe out 3 marine units, kill a vindicator, a rhino and a razorback. The scout squad died early as well giving me 7 kill points. MY opponent managed to kill 2 wych units, they ran and got away , but were below 50%, The Duke and Lady Malys and the Trueborns they were with for a total of 5 Kill points. I was worried for a bit as he brought a squad of thunder hammer wielding terminators, big surprise. The Duke and Lady Malys did mange to kill 3 before they died though.

I have to say the Wych Cult continues to impress me. I will be purchasing some new models in the near future and I dare say I will be buying more Wyches than Warriors. I do have some more Craftworlders bits to buy as well, but I must finish some painting with them first. The only real complaint I have is wounding with wyches in close combat. Its rough is you don't have furious charge and don't wipe the unit in the first round of combat. I do like how effective you can make them against a variety of opponents though. I really recommend using the shard net and impaler though for your special weapons. As you stand a decent chance of getting a re roll wounds in combat combat drug result the razor flails are a kind of a waste. I would rather reduce power weapon or fist attacks personally.

So I did not place, but I went 2-1. My loss was to Vogrin who actually tied for first. Sadly the other person who was in the tie was using an internet favorite list. Lash Prince with lots of obliterators. Very sad.

Well Next time I will be going back to the light side and talking about my Ulthwe themed Adepticon Army. I am going to try and get back and do recaps of my ongoing Rogue Trader game as well. One of my players said he missed the game master point of view recaps. I may also have some more Dark Eldar morsels to discuss.

Until then.........

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cult of Personality: Wych Cult Armies

So I can admit when I am wrong. I have not given the Wych Cults the chance they deserve. In the wake of the “Freak Show” not doing so well in two games I took the advice of FarSeer Re-Rolls and tried out a nice wych cult list. I played one of our regulars at the shop. He is one of our local Seers, but today he was testing the waters with his Tyranids. This actually was a good thing for me as I never run Wych Cult. So I ran a slightly modified list from what FarSeer Re-Rolls usually runs. He prefers Reaver bikes, lots of Reaver bikes. I opted for only one squad. I did however take 3 maxed out Wych Squads of 10and a Squad of 8 Hekatrix Blood Brides. I also took Lady Malys and an Archon along with 2 Ravagers.

It was not a pretty battle to say the least. I flat out moved across the table as he opted to deep strike his whole army. Turn 2, 2 trygons and his Hive Tyrant came in along with a squad of Genestealers. I was pretty tight in a broad circular formation. He landed both trygons amidst my raiders. The Hive Tyrant came in right next to lady Malys and the Archons transport. Shooting from the Tyrgons brought down a Raider, but only Immobilized it.

This is where it got ugly. All 5 of my Squads and the Ravagers opened fire in a torrent of splinters and dark energy. The Trygons took 8 wounds between the two of them while the Hive Tyrant took 3. Then the Assault phase came and everybody charged. I had the Reavers and one and a half squads of wychs on one Trygon and another 1 and a half squads on the second Trygon. This meant 2 Agonizers on each. The Hekatrix Blood Brides and Lady Malys with the Archon charged the Hive Tyrant. The Succubus's and Reaver champions dealt the killing blows to the Trygons while the Syren of the Blood Bride Unit cut the Hive Tyrant down.

The Next turn saw the arrival of the 3^rd Trygon and the rest of the Genestealers. There was also a Mycentic Spore pod containing 3 Zoanthropes. I now lost some wyches to templates. IN my turn I mounted up all the units that could and moved the wych unit without a transport to an objective.

In the following turn I moved them into position to assault the Zoanthropes and Genestealers. I was worried about the Death Leaper that was lurking about. He attempted to get rid of a raider but failed in the last turn. The Reavers assaulted the Zoanthropes while the wyches moved into position. The Genestealers holding one of the objectives moved off of it to assault the Reavers and wiped them out. This pulled them out of cover and into assault range for a wych squad. I swooped in with the raiders and assaulted two units of Genestealers. This paid off as I wiped both units out. Its not often you get to say “the squad strikes simo with the stealers” The death leaper made the mistake of trying to assault a Ravager. It did get one of the Dark Lances, but this left it out in the open. It died to Dark Lance fire.

It was at this point my opponent scooped. His remaining squad was way on the other side of the table and could not get to an objective in time. It also did not matter as I controlled 3 out of 4 objectives.

So my opinion has changed. I really like this list. So much so I am running it tomorrow at the Rouge Trader style Tournament at my FLGS Evolution games. Granted the Duke will be in attendance rather than the Archon that accompanied Lady Malys. I will probably be dropping the Blood Brides or even the Reavers in favor of a True Born Squad as well.

The Wych Cult army is very effective. It can bring a lot of hurt to both vehicles and units. They lack poison close combat weapons, but the special weapons and 4+ invulnerably save in close combat makes up for it a little. You can equip your Hekatrix's and Syren's with a nice array of special weapons that can really hurt the high toughness critters. The real key is your raiders though. You must deploy and run your army with protection in mind. You must make sure your Wyches are not exposed and if they are get them to cover. The 6+ save out of combat is not so great. Keeping the Wyches in cover and keeping them in close combat actually keeps them alive rather well.

I will post the tournament results on Sunday. I will also start talking about my list development for Adepticon finally. I am determined to run a themed Craftworld list and make it work. 

I also Found a better picture of the new Aspect Warrior shrine that will be in Imperial Armour 11.  

The Shadow Specter shrine should be interesting.  I know I really like this model though.  So here is the pick to drool on until they are released.

Until then...................

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Freak Show: Haemonculi based armies

Well kids I tried out an army concept I have been pondering since my first glimpse of the Dark Eldar Codex. The “Freak Army”. This is a purely themed army list that is lead by a coven of haemonculi. The base of this army is of course Wracks. Wracks are the heavily and horrifically modified servants of the Haemonculi. Some are actually volunteers others, well lets just say they weren't willing subjects.

Supplementing the wracks are units of Grotesques. I was only able to include one Chronos Parasite Engine because my trial game was 1500 points. I may not include more as you will see why in a bit.

I faced off Against the Storm Lord and his Necron army. We played a 1500 point pitched battle for kill points. I deployed my three Wrack units in Raiders on the table and kept the Grotesque unit in reserve along with the Chronos. After moving flat out in turn one strait towards the Necrons with two of the raiders I got fairly close with the 3^rd and disembarked the Wracks. The Haemonculis leading them was equipped with a Webway portal so I could deploy the big boys close to the enemy. The whole strategy was to get close and get into hand to hand as quickly as possible. Which I did. I did loose some Wracks, but in the first two turns I took out lots of warriors, a tomb spyder and inflicted some wounds on the Night Bringer. Ultimately One of the Wrack units actually killed the C'Tan. The 4+ poison close combat weapons they have are very nice for laying into targets bigger than them. They are a bit disappointing against soft targets like Guard, Tau and other Eldar but effective none the less.

If not for the uncanny ability of the Storm Lord to roll “we'll be backs” I think I could have tabled him. This was not the case as it seems his knowledge of his army has increased quite a bit and he kept his lord out of reach. Also I could not really hurt the monolith. 3 dark lances is just not enough for that beast. The Game ended in only 5 turns and I was edged out by a kill point.

So what did I learn from this rather close game? Well first I was surprised by how well the list actually did. The Wracks when lead by a Haemonculis is sitting pretty with two pain tokens right off the bat. Granted this is not a big deal having furious charge as you have the poison weapons but the 5 initiative is very nice. The Grotesques on the other hand, it is a big deal. This increases their strength to 6 on the charge. The unit of 6 I took had both my Haemonculis Ancients in it. They were devastating to whatever they charged into. The toughness of 5 really gives them an edge and combine that with 3 wounds and its pretty nice. Of course they have no save other than a FNP roll. When you have the Haemonculi armed with agonizers and liqufier guns, then add a liqufier gun to the unit of Wracks it is very bad for whatever squad you attack, as Long as you roll decently for the AP and strength of the gun.

The list is very all or nothing. If you get mired down and can't get close you might as well scoop. This type of themed army is a little weak against tanks as you only have 3 or 4 dark lances and possible a couple monstrous creatures to destroy vehicles. I am going to tweak the list a little and get it up to 1850 and try it out at our FLGS Evolution Games today and see how it stacks up against Space marines and Guard. I may take out one of the Haemonculis Ancients so I can squeeze in 2 talos and some Scourges. I think the scourges fit the freak theme as they are also products of the twisted haemonculi. I actually like how this list works. It is not quite a bland as the Kabalite lists I have been running. It has a lot of character and has lots of modeling potential. I will get it up to 1850 and report later this week how it did.

I will also be working on my Craftworld Adepticon list as I have a few tweaks to do with it as well. I have to get in some games vs guard and space wolves as me thinks I will be seeing a lot of them at the convention.

One more bit as well. Granted I could care less, but apparently blood angels is getting a second wave. Rumor has ti the storm raven will be dropping in February and boy is it ugly. More Importantly than that the Dark Eldar fliers will be dropping not that long after. It would seem GW has plans for a flier based expansion. Think spearhead like. I guess we will have to see what happens. I am still crossing my fingers that Grey Knights does not drop before the cutoff to use them in Adepticon. Granted even if they do people will be hard pressed to learn the nuances and get miniatures ready.

Well off to the FLGS for some 40K . I will have some bat reps and tidbits later in the week

Until then....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Forces of Commorragh: Kabalite Warriors

The backbone of any Dark Eldar force is going to be made up of 3 different units. It all depends on the theme of the list. Kabalite Warriors, Wychs and Wracks all are troops choices the later when you have a haemonculis leading the army or what I like to call the “freak army”. Wychs are the core of a Wych army. We will be talking about Kabalite Warriors though. They are the backbone of a Kabalite army.

I have never been a huge fan of the wych cults. I use them occasionally, but Kabal based armies have always been my preference. The Kabalite Warriors have not changed much from their last incarnation. They have increased in cost form 8 to 9 points. Squad size has stayed the same and the stat line is the same. The changes to their wargear and transports as well as the Addition of the “Power From Pain” rule is what has made them deadlier.

The “Power From Pain” rule is what has really upped the ante in the Dark Eldar army. Being an alpha strike army this gives Dark Eldar a chance to gain some robustness on turn one. Letting loose a volley of splinter fire from your warrior unit on a very small soft target gives them “Feel No Pain” as long as they destroy the unit. Having the pain token generating Chronos Parasite Engine close at hand or even putting a haemonculis in the unit gives them some very good survivability. This somewhat offsets the fragility of the basic Kabalite Warrior unit. This increased survivability is one of the aspects that has made the basic warrior unit a major threat. All of a sudden bolter fire does not mow down the whole squad.. You can hold objectives with more confidence, especially in cover. My opponents have been having nasty flashbacks to my Fortuned units when facing warriors with FNP holding on objective in cover. The best part is you don't pay any additional points.

The special and heavy weapon options have not changed. The weapons themselves have changed. Many armies, especially tyranids, are living in fear of a basic troop that can shred their monstrous creatures with ease. The 4+ wounding poison splinter rifles have increased the deadliness of the basic warrior. Combine that with the fact blasters are now an 18” range and you have some nice hitting power at range. The splinter cannon having two firing options, assault 4 or heavy 6, make taking a heavy weapon worth it. The main issue I faced in the old edition of the codex was that one warrior was useless if the unit stayed mobile. You essentially wasted points on a dark lance if the unit did not remain stationary. This was an issue for anybody who played the army as it was meant to be played. Fast, hard and mobile. This is not an issue with the extended range of the blaster and the duel mode of the splinter cannon. I will however give a unit a a dark lance if they are going to be set up outside a transport and the squad size is larger than 10. I am kind of intrigued with running Kabalite Warriors Like I run my Guardians. Squads of 20. This means a blaster and 2 Dark lances. When in cover holding and objective, they may be very hard to remove from said objective.

The Sybarite has been contained and its options limited now. Although you can make them expensive, they don't have to be, but the cost is worth it for some gear. The Phantasm grenade launcher is one. Having both offensive and defensive grenades is very nice especially when it was not an option before. Having access to a blast pistol is also nice.

My standard squad now consists of 10 warriors with one upgraded to a Sybarite. I have a blaster and Splinter cannon for my special and heavy weapons. The Sybarite has Ghost Plate, a Phantasm Grenade Launcher and an agonizer. I mount them in a raider with Flicker fields and Night shields as well as Grisly trophy’s and Tormentor Grenade Launchers. The unit comes out to 265 points This is roughly about the same as a Dire Avenger unit mounted in a wave serpent with minimal weapons. The bonus is they can wound anything, have an invulnerably save while mounted on the transport, they can all fire from the transport. The transport supports the unit in leadership tests and affects enemy units leadership tests and the transport comes with a Dark Lance. You could even add splinter racks to the Raider and make all their shooting twin linked. Now if only GW would FAQ fast vehicles passenger shooting rules. As is the unit cannot fire if it moves at cruising speed. This is a major hindrance for Warrior Units. Granted they could only rapid fire 12 inches if the moved, but the blaster and splinter cannon could still fire at a distance.

I have been experimenting with dropping a warrior and the splinter cannon and putting a haemonculis with an agonizer and liqufier gun just to give them a pain token to start off with. The only downside is you can't drop the sybarite as you need the 9 leadership score. This can be bolstered if you keep them close to a raider with Grisly Trophy’s so they can re roll failed leadership.

All in all I am really happy with the changes as the Warriors themselves have not really changed. Its just their equipment changed and made them better by proxy.

Next time I will be discussing a concept I have been toying with. I am going to be trying out today ,after the homework is done, in the secret gaming lair of The Stormlord. I watched “Hell Raiser” the other day and now I am intrigued with the concept of the “Freak” or Xenobyte style army. SO next time we will look at the Wrack based Haemonculis army.

Until then......

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All Your Base Are Belong To GW

I have been thinking about some things since Dark Future Games “End of Days” tournament this past August. With all the new models and codex coming out it occurred to me that some codex’s are kind of side lined and there are a lot of 3^rd party models being developed to fill in the miniature line gaps GW apparently likes to leave.

Vogrin and I had teamed up for the “End of Days” and we won all but our last game. One of our opponents was using Space Wolves. Of course as any space puppy would do he was using thunder wolf cavalry. My only issue with this was that they were massive and their bases were actually bigger than a monstrous creature base by a bit. He was able to chain assault Vogrins Guardsman with impunity. Then it occurred to me. Aren't Thunder wolves supposed to be on bike/ cavalry bases? I also started contemplating the nature of 40K and how as a system it really lacks any rules defining size. Your only real guide post is what bases models come with. If you have two models of similar size they should theoretically have the same size base. This has issues though. What if they package a base with a model that is to small? What if they screw up and put a base that’s to big in. What if the model doesn't come with a base. I know Necron players get pretty worked up when you tell them the Monolith has to be on a flying base to be legal in most tournaments. The complaint being “ it didn't come with a base!”

With all the 3^rd party miniatures, the conversions and “counts as” running around how do we really determine what is to much and what is two little. I would say common sense, but as forums and tournaments have shown me there is very little of that when it comes to gaining the edge thru trickery and modeling rather than just good strategy and generalship.

Games Workshop has always, for some reason, vague and resistant when it comes to classifying base types and what is mounted on what. Its basically the same resistance they have to clarifying rules questions.

If you haven't guessed this whole issue of base size annoys me. I especially get annoyed when base size is used to the advantage of my opponent. Thats the biggest annoyance. I was told some stories from Adepticon last year by those that went of rampant base and modeling abuse. My favorite was the guy who had Chimeras represented by skimmer like craft on flight bases. He was trying to use skimmer like rules for shooting and cover despite the fact Chimeras would block line of sight. Here we have a clear abuse. My example of the thunder wolf cavalry is also blatant abuse. I would say it even borders on power gaming. Granted I was very bitter due to the fact Vogrin and I were cleaning up at that tournament and we got taken out by a newb trying to abuse the system.

SO there is my rant. What are your opinions and experiences with this? Share with the group.

So sadly no team tournament action for yours truly. The spots filled up before we could register. I am all registered for the GT. Now I have to decide on combat patrol of possibly the Kill zone tournaments. It will probably be Combat patrol as I have some nice 400 point lists with my Dark Eldar. More on that later

Until then.....

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!