Happy Halloween Mon-keigh!

I would like to wish everybody a happy Halloween.  Old SeerK is taking it easy this weekend as we had a nice party last night and had a little too much.  I also remembered I had to run a Rogue Trader game tonight.  So I will return before Wednesday with a Battle report versus the Tau with the new Dark Eldar codex.  Also We will continue the Phoenix Court of Khaine series with Karandras. 
I am all registered for Adepticon as well.  I have to register this coming week for my events.  I will be playing in the GT though.  I will be representing the Craftworlds in the GT and The Dark kin in the Team tournament.  I will be teaming up with Old School Terminator, CSVinton and The Judge for said team tourney.  We have to come up with a team name though.  Any suggestions?  Well off I go my Rogue Trader group has gotten into a tangle with a Tau Fleet.  We will see if they survive.

Until then......


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

The Research Continues: Battle Vs Imperial Guard With The New DE

Well I managed to get a game in this past Saturday with Lord Solar Steve of Dark Future Games. I wanted to test my prototype 1850 Dark Eldar list against Imperial Guard and of course continue to learn the nuances of the new codex. The list actually fared better than I thought it would against the massed guns of the Guard. Considering Lord Solar brought Hydra's and with the exception of the ratlings a completely mechanized force very heavy on the Leman Russ's. Knight Commander Pask on a vanquisher , I think it was anyways, was not a picnic.

As I have never been a fan of Wyches I opted to go for a Kabalite warrior force. The list was Headed by my new favorite character in the codex. Duke Sliscus. I also included some Haemonculi. Three Raider riding warrior squads each lead by one of the haemonculi, one group also included the Duke, were my troops choices. I also took 3 units of Kabalite Trueborns riding Venoms. Three Ravagers rounded out the list.

The basic theme and method to my madness with this list is to kill armor. Kill it hard and then gun down any passengers. In theory it has lots of anti tank power while the warrior squads have the anti infantry power. All the raiders and the Ravagers have their dark lances to take out any pesky tanks. The Raiders were equipped with Splinter Racks, which make all splinter rifles, cannons and pistols twin linked for anybody shooting from the raider. Very nice for killing troops. The real punch though comes from the Kabalite Trueborns. These guys can take a lot of special and heavy weapons. I took three 5 man squads. I also gave 4 of the 5 blasters. Then I mounted them on Venom armed with 2 splinter cannons. The codex states that vehicle mounted splinter cannons fire in the heavy 6 mode. Anybody get where I am going. This allows you to deep strike and dismount blast a transport and then hose the occupants with 12 poison 4 shots. Kind of brutal, in theory anyways. In this case not so much. Maybe it was my lack luster rolling or the fact Lord solar was making smoke saves like a boss.

Basically Lord Solar was all packed into one corner. It was a dawn of war deployment so I had the advantage despite going second. My night vision never came into play as Lord Solar was wise and kept everything off the board. It was an objective based game as well. We had 4 objectives.

I knew it was going to be a bloody and rough affair, as most of my games with Lord Solar have been, when it took the combined fire of 2 ravagers and 2 Trueborn squads to pop just one chimera. I started loosing raiders , which were thankfully within splinter rifle range by this point, in turn 2 and 3 as the guns of the Guard lite me up. The Duke and his warriors laid to waste a squad of storm troopers trying to contest the objective they held. This gave his unit 3 pain tokens. He already had one form combat drugs and the haemonculis gave the unit one as well. Sadly the Duke and his unit were relegated to holding objectives since the rest of the army got caught in the meat grinder that was Lord Solar's front line.

I could go into details turn by turn, but I won't. It was a carnal house of slaughter. The only thing living by the end of the game was Lord Solar's tanks and my super HQ unit on their raider. I had racked up 8 kill points and held one objective. Lord Solar had 14 kill points and no objectives. So I won technically. Granted it was at a very high cost.

The real issue with the list was the amount of kill points it contained. I never really thought about it until it was too late. A very derp moment for me. The vehicles are a major source of the KP. They are just so fragile especially versus Imperial tanks. I should have also given all the Trueborn units haywire grenades as they were kind of one trick ponies after the fired their blasters and just stood there.  I could have assualted the tanks at least. I had one warrior unit caught in close combat for 3 turns with a sentinel squadron I really wish they could take haywire grenades.

So I have some adjustments to do. I am going to remove some wargear to fit haywire grenades in where I can and I am replacing one or two of the Kabalite Trueborns with Reavers. I may loose a little bit of tank killing but I think the heat lances will be more effective and I can just run over exposed enemy troops on my way to the armor. I may try and get a game in tonight with the new list.

More on that later though. I am also trying to develop an Eldar list still as I have not quite decided what to run at Adepticon in the GT. I really am starting to think I will not have the codex down in time to really use it effectively in the GT. Next time will be the next Installment of the Phoenix Court of Khaine. I will be covering Karandras my favorite Phoenix lord.

Until then......

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

Blog Highlight: Chaos Kingdoms

Well I sated previously I was going to add an author to my blog. Well rather than write on mine he decided to start his own.  Chaos Kingdoms is my best friend Chris's new blog.  It details quite a bit of different game systems.  He is partial to Battletech and Warhammer Fantasy.  He also details miniatures as he is just an avid collector.  So check out his blog and remember he is a newb so be nice.

I will have my battle report using the new Dark Eldar codex versus Lord Solar Steve of Dark Future Games up Wednesday or Thursday.  I have a weird work week so between homework and blogging I have my hands full.


So until then.....

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

The Phoenix Court of Khaine pt 4: Fuegan The Burning Lance

Fuegan shall gather together all the Phoenix Lords for the Final battle. He shall be the last to fall. The Phoenix Lord of the Fire Dragons is a very lethal and efficient tank Hunter. Wielding a Fire Pike he can kill tanks at range. The Fire Axe lets him hit things as a monstrous creature and gives him +1 strength. He has both Crack Shot and the Tank hunters ability. He also has the added bonus of the Feel No Pain special rule as well.

As with many of the Phoenix Lords I don't use them that often. Fuegan is one of the big three, as I call them, that I use. Maugan Ra, Karandras and Fuegan. Fuegan added to a squad of fire dragons makes them very deadly and less prone to death by assault. Opponents are less committed to assaults when you have a strength 5 eternal warrior with FNP and a 2+ save in the squad. Especially when he strikes first most of the time.

When I run Fuegan I usually run a small squad of Fire Dragons with an Exarch. I give the Exarch Crack Shot and a Dragons Breath Flamer. Fuegan has a Fire Pike already so having the flamer in the group helps you thin out any infantry that is close. If I am planning on flaming a squad though I break off Fuegan in the movement phase so he can pop the transport and the flamer armed Exarch can make short work of the juicy center of the transport. I then fire the fusion guns just to add insult to injury. The next turn Fuegan rejoins the unit. Granted this can leave him open to fire, especially if things do not go as planned.

I use a Wave Serpent as opposed to the Falcon because the Wave Serpent point for point is a better choice. I never buy holo fields anymore as I have grown use to not having them due to the fact Wave Serpents cannot use them. I do not add anti tank weapons though if I am transporting Fuegan and a squad of Fire Dragons. I usually give them shuriken cannons or scatter lasers. Anti infantry is important once the Fire Dragons have done their job of popping a transport.

Fuegan is a decent HQ choice. Clocking in at 205 points he is on the expensive side but you get a decent amount of bang for your points. He increases the survivability and lethality of a unit of Fire Dragons by quite a bit. He also can take out those pesky dreadnoughts and walkers you fail to slag with your fusion guns. My main issues with Fuegan are the same I have with all the Phoenix lords. They have a high points cost and they all lack an invulnerable save. This is compounded by the Dark Eldar now having weapons that can bypass even eternal warrior. This does not bode well for most armies as the Daemon Hunters codex is the next codex rumored to be out next. Granted the FNP is nice to have. It has been proving very valuable in my games with the new DE codex.

Fuegan is a good choice though. He will cause some panic in the backfield of any army that is sitting stationary firing the big guns enmasse. The fire Dragons he is attached to will prove a major thorn as your opponent pours volley after volley into them trying to save his tanks and transports. All the while the rest of your army is creeping in for the kill. Maugan Ra may be the herald of death, but Fuegan is Khaine's instrument of destruction.

Next time I will have a nice battle report. Lord Solar Steve from Dark Future Games and I squared off in a 1850 point Dawn of War battle. The list needs tweaking, but I was happy with the results. Also we will be discussing my favorite Phoenix Lord later in the week, Karandras.

Until then.....

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

Dark Eldar Test Drive

Well I Squared off against The Judge in a pre apocalypse game this past Monday. I really wanted to try a list or two and The Judge as well as Old School Terminator were happy to oblige. I was very giddy and although I was going to field the army as I have in the past I knew it would be a sharp learning curve for the new rules. The new rules are about as forgiving as the Dark Eldar themselves. The margin for error, well there isn't one. This was very obvious in my second game versus O.S.T.

I took a nicely loaded out Archon, 2 warrior squads, a squad of Incubi with a klaviex, a squad of Kabalite Trueborns with 4 blasters and a ravager. All my units had raiders equipped with night shields, flicker fields and torment grenade launchers. The Judge brought his usual Imperial Fist Shenanigans.

This meant venerable brother overkill, Chaplin Stonewall with his thunder hammer wielding terminators, captain lysander and some sternguard in a drop pod and 2 scout squads one infiltrating with sniper rifles and the other outflanking in a land speeder storm.

The Judge took the first turn. Lysander and his boys came in hot and popped the Archons Raider. He and 9 very angry Incubi came out. He kept another Raider from moving. My turn one saw the Archon and Incubi moving to engage Lysander and the Warrior squad on the Raider that could not move disembarked and poured Splinter fire into the Sternguard with Lysander. This thinned the herd very nicely. The Archon and the Incubi he was with charged and eliminated lysander with brutal quickness. The Head of Lysander now adorns the front of the Archons Raider. The Kabalite Trueborns charged forward. Chaplin Stonewall Saw their intentions and stopped his Land Raider short to intercept. The Land Raider Crusader he was embarked on destroyed the Trueborns Raider and then the Terminator squad inside along with Chaplin Stonewall Brutally and efficiently beat the squad to death with thunder hammer with only one of their number falling to Trueborn blades. The Archon seeing his Trueborns die in such an exquisite fashion salutes Chaplin Stonewall and finishes off the sniper scouts. He then moves towards the Chaplin with the Incubi. Brother Overkill and the Whirlwind stayed held up in the ruins raining fire down upon the Archons forces. A squad of warriors glutted with the death of the Sternguard moved forward and Fired on Stonewall. They eliminated on Terminator. Stonewall and his First company brothers charged forward and hit the Raider with their thunder hammers laying waste to it. The warriors inside then died to the hail of fire from brother Overkill and the Whirlwind. The remaining 4 were cut down by thunder hammers. It was at about this time the Archon reached the Chaplin. He and his Incubi charged in cutting down all but one Terminator. The Chaplin was wounded but still able to fight. Although he somehow escaped death last time he was cut down in the second round of combat dying in agony on the end of the Archons Agonizer. The Land raider then sent a rather deadly barrage into the remaining warriors and the Archon The loan surviving Sybarite and warrior with a blaster destroyed the Land Raider. All that remained on the field at the end was Brother Overkill the Whirlwind, The Archon and some Incubi and the 2 loan Kabalite warriors. So I won by one KP. I have to admit I played like crap. This showed in the second game. I lost that one big time. the Tyranids of Old School Terminator making a nice neat sandwich of my army. I kind of got excited and rushed forward. It was a very bad choice on my part. I think the talk of Dr. Roxo the Rock and Roll clown and cocaine, a tangent from talk about Reaver bike combat drugs caused a derp moment. So as of now OST is not crying like a baby because of poison weapons. Granted his Tervigon almost died due to splinter fire in one turn. So yeah you must be focused and stay on plan and target. No real margin for error. Do I still like the codex? Hell yes! This is an army for the skilled and should not be used by the inexperienced. If you are starting out you will loose.... a lot.

So I am now preparing a 1000 point force to lead the Apocalypse game. I realized that if you want to use any Arcane Wargear you must take a Haemonculus. None of the HQ choices can take pieces of Arcane Wargear except them. The only thing the Archon can take is the Soul Trap.

Well next time a battle report of the Apocalypse game and I will be covering Fuegan in the next part of the Phoenix Court of Khaine.

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

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

We Have Such Things To Show You: Dark Eldar First Impressions

I have no spent two days pouring over the new Dark Eldar codex. I have to say it is quite and upgrade. Its hard to see, especially for newer players, how far 40K has really come. There is a stark contrast between the 10+ year old Dark Eldar codex and the new one. The feel is completely different. As you read the fluff you start to see the big picture of how the Eldar interact with each other and the other races. The Dark Eldar have matured. The Sheer ruthlessness of their society is portrayed as it should be. I like the direction GW has taken making things less comical. Even the orks have been toned down a bit. I digress though, I am a big fan of fluff in a codex. It adds so much depth.

My first impression of the codex is very good. The army still has some what the same play style. It is a very fast hard hitting force that can do major hurt in an alpha strike situation. It is also just as fragile as it was before. In fact some units have gotten more fragile. Reavers only have a 5+ save. This though is offset buy the fact they can turbo boost 36 inches and still attack a unit thanks to their blade vanes and caltrop cluster pods. Combat drugs have been simplified and honestly any roll on the table will yield a good upgrade to the squad. A lot of the wargear has carried over and has been brought fully into 5^th edition. Rules have been simplified and clarified and in some cases changed so the gear is more effective. Case in point the Crucible of Malediction , one of my favorite pieces of wargear, now affects every psyker within 3d6” of the bearer.

There is a varied mix of special characters that are quite nice. Although this further supports my stance we are retuning to “hero hammer” the character have a lot of character. Asdrubal Vect now is the most expensive IC in the game clocking in at 440 points with the Dais of destruction. I also am a big fan of Arhra I mean Drahzar. I don't think its coincidence he has the exact same rules and stat line as the Phoenix Lords. Also unlike Asurman I would pay 230 points for him.

I really like the poison weapons as well. My favorite being the shard carbine. Scourges have them stock and Kabalite Trueborns can take them as an upgrade, 18” range with poison 4+ assault 3, yes please. One big theme I also am a fan of is the amount of insta kill as well as weapons that just remove models from the game. There is also quite a few weapons that force wound characteristic tests. These are quite devastating to units as several use blast templates and large blast templates.

I am unhappy about one thing. My worst choice for a heavy support choice is a Talos. That said the new Talos is an excellent choice.

The list is set up so you can run a mixed army, a strict Kabalite army, a wych army and a heamonculus themed army. There are just so many options.

Sadly Farseer Re-rolls and I could not drum up any willing prey this weekend to test out some lists. We also decided playing Dark Eldar versus Dark Eldar would be counter productive. I will be using the new codex Wednesday though in our campaign game. The Judge and I are squaring off again this time bringing lots of help. Thats right the debut of Dark Eldar on the field at Evolution Games my be in a big Apocalypse game. Details later this week. Also as I delve into the codex more impressions. We also have the next installment of the Phoenix Court of Khaine coming detailing Fuegan.

Also Keep an eye out at Dark Future Games for the video review of the new DE codex I sat in on with Farseer Re-rolls, Lord Solar Steve, Death Bringer and Vogrin.  

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

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

The Phoenix Court of Khaine pt 3: Jain Zar

Howling Banshees are some of the most lethal close combat troops in the game. Their mistress even more so. Jain Zar is the matron of the Howling Banshee Aspect. The Storm of Silence as she is known is one of the most feared close combat specialists in the game and one of the best Phoenix Lords to take. Armed with an Executioner and a Triskle that is strength 5 Jain Zar can deal with most opponents in one round. One feature she has, which most people wish she gave to any squads she led, is Furious charge. This makes her strength 7 on the charge with 5 attacks hitting at initiative 10. Hitting on 3's with most opponents means she is going to kill at least 3 or 4 models in the first charge.

I like to use Jain Zar with a full squad of 10 howling banshees with an Exarch. Why add an Exarch you ask? Well given the high weapon skill of the Phoenix Lord and the decently high weapon skill of the Exarch you will hit on 3's most of the time. The Exarch adds a second executioner. This gives you 3 strength 5 attacks on the charge. So with a total of 8 attacks of strength 5 or higher combined with a doom will yield a squad severely reduced in number. This allows the nine regular Banshees to concentrate their attacks on a smaller number of models. Being only strength 3 you really need to concentrate the number of attacks on the smallest possible amount of enemy troops. This is so when you need 5's or 6's to wound you get the best results. Doom helps a lot and no banshee unit should assault a unit that is not doomed unless forced to do so. Basically Jain Zar and the Exarch do most of the work and the remaining Banshees do clean up. You really do not want your opponents to strike back. A small number of wounds can really takes it toll. Since the unit is fearless with Jain Zar in it you can't afford to loose a combat. Banshees are deceptively fragile and taking no retreat saves is no fun on a 4+. This also mires you in combat and Banshees are a unit that needs to hit hard on the first turn and destroy the unit. They are just to fragile for a prolonged engagement.

My typical tactic when going after a unit is first get into charge range. I really do like to send a volley of fire into a unit before I charge it but sometimes you have to run the unit to get into range. Jain Zars' triskele “The Silent Death” is strength 5 as previously stated. Triskeles are usually strength 3 AP2 Assault 3. So when The Silent Death is thrown you could potentially kill a couple models before an assault rather easily. Of course the whole trick to getting the perfect assault is position.

Clocking in at 190 points Jain Zar is the least expensive Phoenix Lord. Again this is to expensive in my opinion especially with the points cost of Lelith in the new Dark Eldar Codex being 175 pts. All in all though She is an excellent HQ choice and is rightly feared by most players. She turns a unit of Banshees into a very lethal close combat unit.

So my two cents on the first of the Asurya. Next time We will be talking about every Imperial tank commanders worst nightmare. The Burning Lance himself Fuegan. Also I may have a battle report this weekend. A very special game with The Judge using the new Dark Eldar.

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

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

To Theme or not to Theme?

This past Saturday I had a really good game versus our local Warboss, eh hem I mean Kommisar, Matt. We played an 1850 game that was a spear head deployment and was for kill points. This was a rematch to a game that was neck and neck that we could not finish some weeks ago. I was using my Adepticon prototype list which was doing well except for the spanking it took from one of our local Imperial Guard commanders. I decided to just say screw it and play a themed list as Matt was using a themed list. His theme was the Armored Krumpany. Lead by a Big Mech the 3 battle wagon army sported a nob squad of doom, 3 2 huge units of boys, a unit of ard' boyz in a truck and two squadrons of death koptas. All in all a very strong list. I decided to go with a good old fashioned Ulthwe themed list. Two units of Guardians, Eldrad Ulthran with a sizable warlock retinue, a unit of 3 vypers, a unit of 3 war walkers, a night spinner, the Avatar and a unit of Dark Reapers. With the exception of the Avatar this was a very true to fluff Ulthwe strike force. How did it do?

To my surprise it did really well. I tabled the orks in turn 6. I gave up 5 kill points and scored 11 myself. The mix of short rang long range really broke the momentum of the ork army which was meant for in your face turn 2 action. Despite being lite on bright lances and anti tank the list did really well. This got me thinking about Adepticon and the performance of my current tourney list vs the Imperial Guard. That lead me to the decision to scrap my current list and start from scratch with a Themed list. Crazy you say? Not competitive you say? Honestly I am going to Adepticon to compete and have fun. I have reached a Zen that is basically in opposition to the current state of tournament list development. I will make a nicely themed Ulthwe list that will be competitive, but in the spirit of the fluff and the Craftworld. More on the development as it comes. The first hurdle as I see ti is facing Imperial Guard. The next two armies we will see spammed at the convention is Blood Angels and Space wolves. I don't think enough people will have the fortitude or skill to play the Dark Eldar competitively or at all in the short time the codex will be out before the convention, unless they have been playing Dark Eldar for years. So the forces of Ulthwe will sally fourth with three targets in their sights.

Next time we will be discussing Jain Zar in the next installment of the Phoenix court of Khaine. Also I will be detailing our store campaign’s next game this weekend. Its an Apocalypse event that may see the first use of the New Dark Eldar Codex. If I can pry it out of Farseer Re-rolls hands.

Until then......

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

More Dark Eldar rules leaks

So the Guys over at the Dark Eldar Kabal have been busy.  They have compiled confirmed rules for a lot of the units.  I am reposting them for the lazy.  So here ya go kids.

Dark Eldar Summary: (Originally posted on Warseer by Vovin)

based on The Dudes’ summary, additional information provided primarily by Frgt/10, minor (but nonetheless important) contributors: jspyd3rx, Toloran, Mr Rose, Cosmic Girl, Loceplax, Wraithseer, time2die, gorgon, Ravenous

ALBE=Autarch Lasblaster equivalent

Army-wide special rules:
Night Vision - Acute Senses USR

Strength Through Pain – Most standard Dark Eldar Infantry units will have this rule, although some of the more out there ones will not. The unit (and only the unit) gains an upgrade every time it wipes out an enemy unit (3 max). 1st Feel No Pain, 2nd Furious Charge, 3rd Fearless.

If an IC or IC's join a unit then their cumulative pain points are added together and they gain the benefit of all of them combined. Should the IC leave the unit, the pain points must be distributed as evenly as possible with any remainder being left to the owning player's discretion. If multiple enemy units are destroyed in a combat against multiple DE units, then all the pain points are randomly assigned to the victorious DE side, they don't EACH get a point for every unit destroyed by the combat's results.

Combat Drugs - Succubus (no drugs for Lelith), Wyches, Reavers, Hellions, option for Archons
Roll once. All units with the Combat Drugs rule get the same benefit. One result confers a free pain point.
Results are:
3D6 pick the highest Run moves
+1 S
+1 WS
+1 A
reroll to wound rolls in close combat
+1 free Pain Token

12" Assault and "always attacker" results are gone.

Weapons:

Dark Lance: S8 AP 2 Heavy 1, Lance (even for Scourges)

Splinter Rifle 24" SX, AP5, Rapid Fire, Poisoned.

Shard Carbine 18" SX, AP5, Assault 3, Poisoned.

Splinter Cannon 36" SX, AP5, Assault 4, or Heavy 6 Poisoned.

Splinter Pods - 18" S X AP5 Assault 2, Poisoned

Blaster - 18” S 8 AP2 Assault 1, Lance

Disintegrator – S5 AP2 Heavy 3

Shredder - still in

Heat Lances - 18" S6 AP1 Lance, Melta

Wargear:

Webway Portal:
archons, haemonculi only
dropped in shooting phase, dropping the portal counts as shooting and the person who drops it CANNOT be in a vehicle when he drops it. It then acts like a board edge that you can bring reserves on. The WWP is indestructible and impassable once it's down...and in a change, cannot be used to bring on vehicles. Also, if you have a WWP you can always put things in reserves even if the mission doesn't allow. Outflanking and deepstriking reserves can use the portal.

Agonizer: power weapon, no poison rule, but wounds always on 4+

Djinn blade: is not a weapon, but gives 2 additional power weapon attacks, rolled separately, on doubles hits wielder instead

Plasma Grenades: wyches have acces to them, warrior can buy them

Orgasm Grenade Launcher: [Ed- Possible freudian slip??] whole unit has offensive and defensive grenades

Soultrap: If bearer kills an enemy MC or SC in close combat he doubles his Strength to 6. If he kills another one, he doubles his Strength to 10.

Clone Field: is a wargear item which allows the bearer to nullify D3 attacks directed at him each turn; the specific attacks are chosen by the bearer. Mutually exclusive with shadow field

Shadow Field: same as before

Huskblade: Power weapon that causes Instant Death.

Drug Dispenser: access to combat drugs

Hexfire Rifle - Sniper Rifle, wounded model takes a wounds test or is removed from play (yes this does circumvent EW)

Blast Pistol - 6" range Blaster, counts as CCW.

Mindphase Gauntlet: any IC or MC HIT (not neccessarily wounded) by this weapon must take BOTH a Strength and a Leadership test for EACH hit. If ANY of these tests is failed, that IC or MC may not attack this assault phase. NO power weapon,

Special Characters:
There are 8 special characters, all are HQ choices:

Asdrubal Vect
Can be taken mounted or on foot. It has been said his throne fits nicely in the spot where the sail goes on the new Raider kit. This implies no new model. Personally, I think the new kit would look a little silly without the sail.
Seizes the initiative on a 4+
has preferred enemy against all unit types and re-rolls to wound against all Eldar models (including Dark Eldar)
Armed with Obsidian Orb: S10 AP3 Assault 1 Blast Weapon that rolls against the target's Ld stat rather than their T. Any unsaved wound caused heals Vect up to his starting number of wounds.
Dais: optional, 200 albes, 13/13/13 raider, transport 10, 3 dark lances
vect and 9 other passangers MUST be deployed in the dais at the start of the game

Duke Sliscus
A corsair captain described as a nasty counterpart to Yriel.
Gives you 2 rolls on the combat drugs chart, picking the result you want.
2+ poison weapons, if he rolls a 5+ to wound, they also ignore armour. A single unit of either warriors or kabalite trueborn have their poison weapons upgraded to 3+.

Drazhar
Apparently there's a strong indication that Drazhar is actually Arhra.
7/7/4/4/3/7/4/10/2+
Armed with Demiklaives
Special Rules:
Eternal Warrior, Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain
- Can move to a different spot in the same combat as long as he stays in base to base contact with enemy models and in unit coherency.
- Gets instant bonus attack for ever 6 on a saving throw.
- Makes a Incubi unit he joines Fearless.
- Has both Klavex powers.

Lelith Hesperax
9/7/3/3/3/8/4/9/6+
No poison, no drugs, but ignores armour.
3++ in CC and 4++ against shooting
Is equipped with impaler and shardnet. There are two wargear sets for the model but this is only a cosmetic option. There is no rule for another weapon loadout.
Special Rules:
Recieves a bonus attack for every point her WS is above the highest opponent's WS in base contact with her

Lady Malys
4+ invulnerable save
Completely immune to psychic powers and passes this ability onto any unit she joins. Equipped with better Djinn blade
allows the owning player to redeploy D3 units after deployment...including placing these units back into reserve

Urien Rakarth
Gives out D3 Pain Tokens at the start of the game, which must go to Wrack or Grotesque units
Regains 1 wound at the start of each DE Turn
T5
Urien’s Ichor Gauntlet wounds enemies on a 3+ and inflicts instant death.
Liquifier Gun (new name for the destructor)
Can upgrade Grotesques to S6 for 5 albes each
Wracks become Troops

The Decapitator
no IC, always starts in reserve regardless of mission, deepstrike anywhere on the table without scattering, can not assault in this round
T3, 5+ invulnerable

Baron Sathonyx
Hellion character on skyboard
lower than archons stats in almost all respects, pretty cheap however
has a special skyboard that gives him +2 str on the charge (so +3 with his hellglaive) but no power weapon
making pulling enemy IC's out of units virtually guarenteed. He also shields the unit from fire very effectively if there's decent cover around
no combat drugs either
makes hellions troops, +1 on deployment roll

HQ
Archon
WS/BS: 7 S/T/W: 3 I: 7 A: 4 Ld: 10 Save: 5+
no skyboard or jetbike
Can have a Blaster, or Blaster Pistol.

Court of the Archon
Inquisitor style retinue for the Archon. Different (alien) members offer different bonuses.
1-2 Medusae- ranged eye laser style weapon (the background for these are pretty cool; they're basically brains-on-stalks that possess hosts for them to leech off their emotions): Flame S D6+1 AP D6 Assault 1
1-5 Ur-Ghuls- WS5 S5 T5 W 3 I5 A3, furious charge, feel no pain
1-2 Lhameans- Dark Eldar poison masters, poisoned weapons of the Lhamean and Archon wound on 2+
1-3 Sslyths- 2 wound snake-like mercenaries armed with shardcarbine, splinter pistol and cc weapon (they have 4 arms). also have FnP

Succubus
WS/BS: 8/6 S/T/W: 3 I: 8 A: 4 Ld: 9 Save: 6+
Wargear is minimal, mainly wych weapons and other combat gear, nothing too special. comes with combat drugs as standard, option for Agonizer, no skyboard or jetbike

Haemonculus
1-3 haemonculi per slot, and 1 of them can be an Ancient.
Haemonculus: 4/4/3/4/2/4/2/8/6+
Ancient Haemonculus: 5/5/3/4/3/4or5/3/9/6+
Comes with a free Pain Token (and therefore Feel No Pain)
If there is at least one H. in the army, Wracks are Troops
no way to improve armour, no shadow field
Wargear for Ancient:
- Huskblade
- Archangel of Pain: One causes all enemies within 3d6" to make a LD test. If they fail, their WS and I is 1 for the rest of the turn.
- One is a single shot weapon that 12" Strength d6 AP d6, Assault 2d6.
- A rifle that is 36" sX ap 4, assault 1, sniper. If a model suffers a wound from this, it rolls a characteristic test against its wounds. If it fails, it is removed from play.
- Crucible of Malediction: all psykers within 3d6 take a ld test or get removed from play , one use
- Liquifier: Flame Str 4 Ap D6

Elites
Harlequins
Identical to the Codex: Eldar entry
There is no, repeat NO Solitaire and NO dedicated transport.

Mandrakes
5-10 Mandrakes
4/4/4/3/1/5/2/?/5++
single ccw, 5+ invulnerable
Whenever a unit with this rule has at least one pain token, each model has the following shooting attack: 18” S4 AP4 Assault 2, Pinning
Special Rules: Stealth, Move Through Cover, Night Vision, Fleet, Infiltrate, Power Through Pain

Incubi
5/4/3/3/1/5/2/9/3+
3-10 squad size. Incubus, Klavex
Armed with Incubus warsuit (3+ sv) and Klaives (Power Weapons with +1S), NO plasma grenades, no Tormentor anymore
Special Rules: Fleet, Night Vision and Power from Pain.
Klavex is a squad leader with WS5, A3 who can take:
Demiklaves: 2 smaller blades that either give him +2 attacks or +2S (both are Power Weapons).
Bloodstone: Flame S3 AP 3
Klavex can buy the follwoing Exarch powers:
Onslaught: If a Klavex is in the unit, wound roll of 6 by Klavex or Incubus allows for bonus attacks, these cannot produce more attacks.
Murderious Assault: Klavex points at an IC and gains Preferred Enemy against that IC, can be done every assault phase

Grotesques
4/1/5/5/3/?/3/3/6+
One Grotesque can be upgraded to a aberration. Can take a few special close combat weapons, but no power weapon.
One Grotesque can take a ranged weapon, although BS 1.
Special Rules:
free pain token, aka Feel No Pain, no fleet
If there is no IC in the unit, roll aD6. One a 1, unit is removed from play and every unit in 2D6” gets 2D6 S5 AP- hits
Option for Raider. Takes up two transport slots.

Wracks
Human-sized Homunculus constructs
two poisoned (4+) blades
S3 T4, no fleet
One wrack can be upgraded to a champion. Can take a few special close combat weapons including an agonizer.
1 in 5 wracks can take liquifier
Special Rules:
free pain token, aka Feel No Pain
Option for Raider and Venom.

Kabalite Trueborn
3-10
elite warriors, LD9 and 2A
Armed with Splinter Rifle and Kabalite Armour. Dracon upgrade. Dracon has 3 attacks.
Can swap rifle with splinter pistol and ccw for free or splinter carbine for 5 albes each. Can take plasma grenades for 1 albes each.
Special Rules: Fleet, Night Vision and Power From Pain.
Options to take 4 special weapons and 2 heavy weapons.

Hekatrix Bloodbrides
elite wyches, LD9 and 2A
Syren squad champion with A3
Every third wych can take a special wych weapon.

Troops
Kabalite Warriors
5-20
Stats are the same. Armed with Splinter Rifle and Kabalite Armour. Sybarite upgrade.
Warriors get 1 Dark Lance (25 albes) or Splinter Cannon per 10 models.
Can only take 1 shredder or blaster regardless of squad size.
no plasma grenades
Sybarite can take: grenade launcher for 20 albes, ghostplate armour (4+/6++), venom blade, a power weapon, or an agonizer
Special Rules: Fleet, Night Vision and Power From Pain.

Wyches
5-20
4/4/3/3/1/6/1/8/10/6+
Stats are around the same.
Armed with: Close combat weapon, combat drugs, plasma grenades, splinter pistol, wychsuit.
Hekatrix (squad champion, A2) still have the option for the Agoniser. Wych weapons are one per 5 models.
Special Rules: Fleet, Night Vision, Power from Pain, Combat Drugs.
Dodge (4+): Wyches have 4+ Inv save in CC
Wych weapons
- Shardnet and Impaler: Counts as 2CCW, every enemy model in base contact loses 1 attack to a min of 1
- Hydra gauntlets: Count as 2CCW and grants +D6 attacks instead of the +1 for 2 ccw
- Razorflails: Count as 2CCW, reroll to hit and wound.

Fast Attack
Reaver Jetbikes
3-10
T4, 5+ save, can Turbo-boost 36", Move through Cover
Reavers and Arena Champion
Armed with Wychsuit, splinter pistol, close combat weapon, combat drugs
Reaver Jetbike: +1T and 5+save, built in Splinter Rifle and 36" Turbo Boost
One out of 3 can replace Splinter Rifle with Heat Lance or Blaster.
Bladevanes: Draw a line from the starting point and the ending point of the movement. Select a single unengaged, non-vehicle unit under this line. Each bike does D3 S4 AP- hits. Cover Saves allowed.
One out of three Jetbikes can replace Bladevanes with:
Grav-Talon: 10 albes, as Bladevanes but does D3 S4 AP-, if target suffers 1 or more unsaved wounds it must immediately take a pinning test.
Cluster caltrops:20 albes, Additional to Bladevanes D6 S6 AP- hits
Special Rules: Night Vision, Power from Pain, Skilled Riders, Combat Drugs
There is no way to take these guys as Troops.

Hellions
5-20
Jump Troops, hit and run, Fleet, combat drugs, no plasma grenades
hellglaives give +1A and +1S
Skyboards have a 18” SX AP4 assault 2, Poison shooting attack
Champion can take a special type of skyboard which can pull an IC out of its unit when using Hit and Run. This leaves him engages in Close Combat with the IC though.
can take grenade launcher for 20 albes

Beast Masters
1-5 beastmasters per unit, ride skyboards, count as Beasts though
one beastmaster can take combat weapons like agonizers, no combat drugs
each beastmaster can only have ONE type of beast.
0-5 kymerae per beastmaster, 0-1 clawed fiend per beastmaster, 0-2 Vodwing Flock per beastmaster

Khymera - The old Warp Beast, 4/4/4/3/1/4/3/?/4++
Vodwing Flock - W5, A5, Rending
Clawed Fiend - 4 wounds and 4 attacks, the fiend also gains an attack for every wound it suffers

Scourges
3-10
4+/6++ Ghostplate armour, armed with with Shard Carbines and Jump Pack (no jetpack)
Weapon options:
2 out of 5 can take:
heat lances, dark lances, splinter cannons,
Haywire Grenade Launchers: 24” S4 AP4 Assault1, against vehicles roll an additional D6: suffers a glancing hit on 2-5 and a penetrating hit on 6

Special Rules:
Deep Strike

Heavy Support
Ravager
Fast, skimmer, open-topped, AV 11 11 10
Armed with 3 Dark Lances as standard, can upgrade to diintegrators for free
Can fire all weapons after moving 12" and after Deep Striking

Talos
5/3/7/7/3/4or5/D6/10/3+
Nightvision, Power from Pain, Monstrous Creature, Move through Cover
twin linked splinter cannon, can be upgraded to twin-linked liquifier, twin-linked heat lance and more
can take additional ccw for 15 albes
can make attacks Instant death for 5 albes OR
can roll 2D6 for number of attacks and pick the highes for 10 albes

Cronos
Weaker but cheaper Talos.
3/3/5/7/3/4or5/2/3+
Nightvision, Power from Pain, Monstrous Creature, Move through Cover
When the Cronos kills a model in cc, an unit in 12" gets a Pain Token. Can take ranged weapons, that also gives a Pain Token upon wounding:
Weapon 1: Flame S4 DS 3 Assault
Weapon 2: 18" S3 DS3 Assault Blast 5"

Razorwing Fighter
AV 10, 10, 10
Fast, Skimmer, Supersonic: 36” Flatout
Can fire all weapons after moving 12" and after Deep Striking
TL splinter cannon, 2 dark lances, 4 monoscythe missiles (48" S6 AP5 assault 1, large blast, one use only)
can be upgraded to:
Necrotoxin Missile: 48" 48" SX AP5 Blast 5", Poison 2+, Pinning, one use only
Soulstealing Missile: 48” S7 AP- Large Blast, reroll to wound, one use only

Voidraven Bomber
AV 11, 11, 10
Fast, Skimmer,Supersonic: 36” Flatout
Can fire all weapons after moving 12" and after Deep Striking
Armed with two Voidlances: S9 AP2 Dark Lances and a Void mine: S9 AP2 Lance, 5” Blast, Bomb dropped along its flight path, scatters D6".
can take up to four missiles:
Monoscythe Missiles: 48" S6 AP5 assault 1, large blast, one use only
Implosion Missile: 48”, small blast, W-test (take the W at the start of the game) or removed from play, invulnerable and cover saves allowed, one use only (30 albes a pop)
Necrotoxin Missile: 48" SX AP5 Blast 5", Poison 2+, Pinning, one use only
Soulstealing Missile: 48” S7 AP- Large Blast, reroll to wound, one use only

Transports
Raider
transport 10
Fast, skimmer, open-topped AV 10 10 10
Has upgrades for a 5+ invulnerable (not cover) save and another that gives an extra 2D6" movement.

Upgrades
3 expensive upgrades:
- Nightshield: hasnt changed
- Retrofire Jets: allows deepstrike, fire all weapons after deepstrike, you cant disembark from a DSing vehicle though
- Clonefield: confers 5+ invulnerable save

7 cheap upgrades:
- if the raider moves over a unit it gets D3+1 hits with S4
- 2D6" extra movement
- enemy unit in 6" get -1 on thei Ld, must take a Ld if they try to assault the vehicle
- friendly units in 12" can reroll their moraletest
- raider can tankshot, if it rams it gets +D3 on its front armour
- for every 1 on a close combat to hit roll against the vehicle the unit gets a S4 hit
- splinter rifles and pistols (but no cannons) can reroll failed to hit rolls when shooting from the raider

Venom
4/10/10/10, fast, skimmer
Transport capacity 5 or 6 (codex contradicts itself), clonefield
Armed with Twin Linked Splinter Rifles and can upgrade to a Splinter Cannon
Despite the name, this is not a Harlequin dedicated transport. Every unit with access to the raider can also take a venom, except Groteques 
 
There is some sick stuff going on.  The archon wounding on 2+ and being able to insta kill stuff.  Not to mention the soul trap he can take.  Combine that with the fact the Shadow field is still in and we have some fun.  I am disappointed though that the retinue is no longer made up of incubi.  I am glad the dark lance did not change.  The heat lance is sick and all marine players can kiss their land raiders good bye.  I am also glad they made the Ravager able to fire all weapons when moving 12".  I am sad they changed the Dizzy though.  looks like its still a marine killer though.
so what do you guys think?

The Phoenix Court of Khaine pt2: Maugan Ra

According to most fluff Craftworld Ulthwe although light on Aspect Warriors does have a very healthy number of them. The most prevalent of the Aspect temples on Ulthwe is not the Dire Avengers. It is Actually the Dark Reaper temples. This is reflected by fluff and the fact in the Apocalyptic formation “The Ulthwe Strike Force” you must take Maugan Ra and two units of Dark Reapers. Ulthwe and Maugan Ra are staunch enemies of chaos and fight to preserve the Eldar race as a whole.

Maugan Ra is one of my two favorite Phoenix Lords. He is the harvester of souls and the founder of the Dark Reapers. Maugan Ra of course has the standard Phoenix Lord stat line. This makes him an excellent shot hitting on a 2+ and being able to re-roll any misses on a 5+ thanks to an exceptional BS. He has the standard rules, Fearless, Eternal warrior, crack shot, fast shot and he makes any Dark Reaper unit he joins Fearless. This later fact is important. He also has the Acute Senses rule.

His weapon is the Maugetar which is a Shuriken cannon with Assault 4 that also causes pinning is rending and has an affixed executioner raising his strength by 2+ in close combat.

This is where the fearless thing comes in. When I use Dark reapers they tend to be prone to assaults by deep striking or very mobile close combat troops. Even if you have them rooted in a very hardened position the amount of casualties they inflict is pretty high when you have a Farseer handy to guide them and doom the units they are shooting at. Even on their own they tend to kill marines units quick. This makes them targets. What better way to deter assaults than having Maugan Ra in the unit dishing out 4 powered attacks at strength 6 and going first, usually. Its a nice deterrent. Most players do not want to get in close combat with a Phoenix Lord

The real payoff in using Maugan Ra though is he increases the long range killing power of a unit. Since he has the crack shot power you can send some possibly rending shurikens into a unit and they will get no cover save. He also has fast shot so assault 4 becomes 5. 5 rending shots that also pin This adds at least 50% more fire coming from the unit Add in an Exarch with a Eldar missile launcher and you could be killing a squad a turn. Maugan Ra is also the second cheapest Phoenix Lord. Clocking in at 195 points, he is still over priced in my opinion, he makes a good HQ choice and a great squad upgrade for a single squad of Dark Reapers.

Although the Maugetar does not have the range of a reaper launcher it helps with mid range fire. If you leave Maugan Ra apart from your Dark Reaper Units you can be a little more effective. You can create cross fires and pin units that the reapers cannot totally kill. You can use Maugan Ra as a clean up tool. You hit a unit hard with the Dark Reapers. If there are only a few left say 5 or less then you can take out the remaining troops with Maugan Ra using fast shot, unless they are in cover then use crack shot. You get one less shot but no cover save is allowed and this means more kills for lightly armored troops.

So there is my two cents about the Harvester of souls. Next to Karandras, Maugan Ra is my favorite Phoenix Lord. He really is a good HQ choice to go with. Next in the series we will cover the Storm of Silence. Jain Zar the Phoenix Lord of the Howling Banshees. I really can't wait for the Dark Eldar Codex to come out I want to do a Gladiator fight between Lelith and Jain Zar to see who wins. I smell a video Idea.

So next time more tactics and I may be getting my hot little hands on a Dark Eldar Codex this coming week to browse.

Until then.....

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

Remember Remember the 6th of November

So the Dark Eldar are now available for advanced order.  The initial offering is the Archon, Lelith Hesperax, Warriror squad, Wych squad ( mmmm new plastics), Incubi squad, Reaver Jetbike Squadren and the Raider.  I am pretty pleased with the pricing actually.  $25 bucks for the new warriror and wych squads and $33 for the Raider.  I don't know about you guys, but my FLGS sells GW products on a discount.  This means I can do a very feasible army pretty cheaply as far as GW stuff goes. I can spend $200 bucks and have some new hotness.  I think this is what may happen.  I really want to look at the codex.  It is clocking in at $29 bucks to thats a little on the high side.
So I am really excited.  Once I have the codex in my hot little hands I will start my analysis and army development.
Apparently Lelith is WS 9 and Gets an additional attack for each point of WS above her opponent.  Cobine this with 4 attacks that ignore armor and you get a lethal lady that kills whole squads.  The new Urien Rakarth is also previewed as well as the new helions, Mandrakes and Ravager.

 WTF is all I have to say.  Mr. Rakarth is demented beyond all belief.

 This new mandrake is one of the best models to date in my opinion.  It just looks so freakin evil.  I will feild these guys even if they suck just because the models are so nice.

 New helion looks ok.  Way better than the original, but not awsome.

 New Ravager is lookin pimp.  I really like the side pods look.










A little edit and update.  I pilfered this from The Dark Eldar Kabal

Archon 60 points base huskblade 35 points soultrap is about 20.
Basic warriors are 9 points and Raiders are 60 base.
Incubi are 22 points each
Vect 240 (dais +200)
Lelith 170
ancient haemonculus 80 normal one is like 65
ravager 105-120 I think
I'll post other stuff people want too, just ask.

[Grotesques]
they are WS4 BS1 S5 T5 W3 A3 ????? 6+ sv
they have feel no pain (like all other haemonculi stuff ie. the heamonculi, urien, wracks, and grotesques.) They take up 2 spaces in a transport (like Ogryn) they have to take a Ld test if an IC isn't accompanying them, and if they fail they inflict 2D6 attacks on nearby units before all dying.

[Scourges]
they have wings meaning they are JUMPPACK not jetpack

EDIT: like ACTUAL WINGS made for them by haemonculi for a lot of money. ther get surgery and fly up ato the eyries at the top of the city and act as couriers and are very rich (well paid job) and they can buy cool weapons eg splinter cannons, darklances, heat lance(?), and copme with splinter carbines standard. (very good rate of fire.)

cant remember mandrake points. about 25 I think. they shoot S4 AP4 Assault 2 fire attacks. they have stealth and infiltrate. scary.

Lelith is WS9 BS 7? S3 T3 W3 I7/8 A4 Ld 9/10 sv6+
she has a 4++ inv against shooting (she dodges bullets lol) and a 3++ inv. in CC. Her hair counts as a shardnet and impaler (reduce ememy attacks by 1) and her knives are power weapons. she is very killy.

[Heat lances]
they are 12"? S6 Ap 1/2 Melta lances
they can be taken by a reaver arena champion as well, and it is a heavy weapon for warriors and the trueborn.

[Venom]
it has a TL splinter rifle and can upgrade to a splinter cannon. It can take some of the DE vehicle upgrades

RE: the DE flyers. they are classed as skimmers. the ? fighter and the voidraven bomber. the bomber has 2 TL darklances and can drop a S8 template on units it flies over. (scatters only D6") the fliers can purchase up to four missiles of any of the following types and may be a mix of them. there are neurotoxin ones, imploding ones, soul stealing ones or something, and good old fashioned explosives.

Some Urien fluff: his presence is a great honour for the kabals/cults that accompany him on raids. He has died many times, but he regenerates. It is now to the point where he likes to try interesting ways of dying. But for some reason, each time he regenerates, he keeps bits of his old body - that's why he has like 5 spines and 7+ arms. He is one crazy bastard. The haemonculi built a big fancy tower out of living tissue and it is like an academy. They have even trained Fabius Bile there (Urien was interested in his experiments). He can make the small constructs troops, and he can give grotesques S6 instead of their usual S5 for 5 points each. He regenerates one wound a turn but cannot exceed the max.

Some excerpts from a conversation with two friends who have seen the codex:
Drazhar?

Phoenix lord statline incl 2+ sv and EW, the demiklaves (i think) and he can move to a different spot in combat as long as he stays in B2B with opponents. other stuff too.

Drugs?
3D6 pick the highest for running,
+1 S
+1 WS
can't remember this one
probably re-rolls is one
+1 free pain token
meaning most of the army gets feel no pain lol
1 roll for entire army.

if so, I'd love some hekatrix with max hydra gauntlets that wound on 2+

Yeah, that's precisely why you won't be able to. XD
Actually, nix what I said about the huskblade/soultrap before. All you need is that Poison retinue member and it's stupidly good.

(FYI there is a retinue member for the archon that gives the whole unit 2+ poisoned attacks... combine with huskblade and other power weapons for maximum lulz...)

[Archon]
He can take different numbers of 4 different types of guards. ie. he can take some of one type and a few of another etc. (I would recommend keeping it down to 10 members so they can ride in the archon's pimpin' raider)
one is a big bug - 3 wound tank monster, one is a 4 armed shooty guard, one is a general cc one, and another is a retinue member that grants the entire retinue poison 2+ CC attacks.



I will be detailing Maugan Ra on Thursday in the next Installment of The Phoenix Court of Khaine.


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

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

A small Price to Pay For The Smiting of Ones Enemies: Store Campaign

So we had the latest game in our campaign series at good old Evolution Games this past week. It was a 1500 point pitched battle where I had to defend an objective from being destroyed. I squared off once again with the judge who also had an objective I had to take for bonus points. I had played this same scenario the previous day against one of the regular players who has just recently switched to Eldar. The battle did not go well for him as the Archon and his Kabal unleashed the full fury on their craftworld cousins. The Archon left the privilege of Eldrad Ulthrans death to Drazzar the Master of Blades. Needless to say he made some mistakes and needs to work on his basics.

Th Judge brought the heat in the form of Chaplin Stonewall leading a squad of thunder hammer wielding terminators in a land raider crusader, Captain Lysander leading a Stern guard squad in a drop pod, a maxed out squad of scouts with sniper rifles, Sgt Bad ass and his sunshine kids, scout squad, in a Land speeder storm and of course Venerable brother Overkill.

Things started out ok. I had two warrior squads and the Archons squad sweep up with the two Ravagers swooping in on the right flank. The Talos moved up in between. There were no real casualties as The Judges weapons were not hot yet. Turn two saw the arrival of Lysander and his Stern Guard veterans lit up the Talos with inferno rounds. The Talos lost 2 wounds. The Archon and warriors advanced while the third warrior squad acting as rear guard swung around to fire on Lysander and the Stern guard. The Ravagers unleashed disintegrator fire killing all but 2 Stern Guard and Lysander. The second Ravager lit up Brother Overkill and Chaplin Stonewall and his terminators advanced and disembarked form the Land Raider. They then charged the two raiders before them destroying one. He Talos had died in the previous turn to Lysander but not before killing the remaining Stern Guard. The scouts fired on anything and everything they could. Brother Overkill destroyed the Archons Raider and forced him to move by foot to engage Chaplin Stonewall. Basically turn three I knew I was going to loose as Lysander smacked my objective with his Thunder Hammer and the ran off chuckling to himself. SO with the objective lost I just went for blood and vengeance. The warriors remaining after the destruction of their transports opened up with a fusillade of splinter fire and killed 3 terminators. The Ravagers poured fire into Brother Overkill but the wiley venerable dreadnought would not die. In fact he basically could not shoot for two turns and that was about it. As the Archon face palmed the ineptitude of his warriors, Chaplin Stonewall did what he does best, tactical retreat. The Archon then saw a way to vent his frustration. Captain Lysander came into view on a hill. Drazzar and 4 Incubi charged the infamous Imperial Fist captain and with a sweep of his Punisher now alive with power cut down the captain with unrestrained fury. Sgt Bad ass overcome with the death of his captain charged the Archon. He seemed to forget he did not have an invulnerably save. He and his scouts were dealt with like the flies that they were. One Nemesis down two to go. Chaplin Stonewall had redeployed a small distance away to deal with the ravagers. The scouts had managed to snipe one and the thunder hammers of Stonewalls terminators did in the other. By a miracle the Archons consolidation move from the previous round and his normal movement put him in range to charge the Chaplin. It did not look like it by eye and we measured it three times. Finally the Chaplin who mocked the Archon and stole victory away from him was right in front of him. The two squads clashed and the remaining terminators were cut down. Stonewall was saved by his rosarius but was cut down. The Archon roared in triumph as he pulled his Punisher from the broken form of Chaplin Stonewall. Two down one to go.

Sadly this is when I realized the Archon, Drazzar and two Incubi were all that was left of my army. I guess the killing frenzy kind of blinded me for a second. The Archons Shadow field finally gave out at this point to and he succumbed to sniper fire as did the Incubi. So Brother Overkill survived and he held true to his name and blasted Drazzar with a lascannon. I got tabled in turn 7. I did kill two out of three of the Archons nemesis though.

The next Game is a 4000 point per side Apocalypse battle. The Archon has recruited 2 Chaos war bands and has made a pact with the powers of chaos the send their warp spawned kin to the battle field. The Dark Mechanicus will be supplying a Titan blessed by Khorne to wipe the Archons enemies from existence. Most anyways. There must be some left alive for the arenas and ministrations of the haemonculi back in Commorragh.

Next time more battle reports and the next installment of the Phoenix Court of Khaine series.

Until then......

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

The Phoenix Court of Khaine pt 1: Asurman

He is the right hand of Asuryan. He is the the oldest and first amongst the Phoenix Lords. He is Asurman the Phoenix Lord of the Dire Avengers.

As you know Dire Avengers are probably my second favorite Aspect warrior temple. Asurman is a good all around HQ choice. Phoenix lords have a nice stat line, usually have all the associated Exarch powers plus an additional power. They are eternal warriors and have a 2+ save. Asurman has a 4+ invulnerably save which is a big thing as none of the other Phoenix Lords have an invulnerably save. I find this rather annoying but you learn to deal with it. Since Phoenix lords are fearless and make any squad they join of their aspect fearless, Asurman can really bolster a squad of Dire Avengers. A fearless troop unit is pretty nice when holding an objective.

Wargear wise Asurman has nothing to fancy. It seems fourth edition really killed weapons reflecting the fluff. There is a lot of counts as that is a bit lackluster for the points you pay in some cases. Asurmans' vambraces count as an Avenger shuriken catapult that is assault 4. His Dire Sword is still just a Dire Sword, albeit one that allows you to re-roll misses. The Phoenix Lord stat line is nice so you do get to have a very exceptional character. His BS of 7 gives Asurman a re-roll of 5+ for shooting. Clocking in at 230 points though is a little excessive in my opinion. There are a couple of different Phoenix Lords that are much better that are much cheaper. With HQ slots at a premium Asurman is not one I would take unless I was running a rather hefty force of Dire Avengers. 5 attacks on the charge in close combat with a 2 handed power weapon is nice with the ability to re-roll misses but, I hardly ever voluntarily charge my Dire Avengers into combat. They usually get charged. Dire Swords are also lackluster as is pretty easy to pass leadership tests anymore especially if you are a space marine.

All in all I would not use Asurman unless I was doing a theme list. He is to expensive and really just not worth blowing an HQ slot and 230 points. He will make a single squad of Dire Avengers very deadly as they hold the line. I generally still include an Exarch in squads with Phoenix Lords. I would definitely do this with Asurman as I would want a second power weapon and a Shimmer Shield in the squad for the 5+ invulnerably in close combat. You don't have to give the Exarch powers of course. It would be nice if you could take Phoenix lords as a squad upgrade that did not take up an HQ slot. Like Lemartes or one of the other dozen Imperial players get.

Kind of an unenthusiastic start I know. Honestly Asurman is not the best Phoenix lord. He is a mediocre choice for lots of points.

SO next time we will talk about a Phoenix Lord that is worth the points. The Bringer of Death. The harbinger of doom. Maugan Ra the Phoenix Lord of the Dark Reapers. I also have a battle report for the latest round of the store campaign. The Judge and I went head to head again. I lost, but managed to get some payback. So that battle report is in the pipe for later.

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

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