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 3rd 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!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ya, The battle was bloody but the turn 2 crippled any chance of saving the fight. The loss of the hq and two trygons was devastating. In the end I was forced to realize that trygons do have their limits and that needs to be observed.
ReplyDeleteThe game was a great learning experience for both my new army and the battle tactics of the wych cult. A nearby Eldrad and hive queen have learned much of a bloody opponent.
The Shadow Specter model is awesome. Really going to be tempted by it when it is released.
ReplyDeleteAs for the battle report, good read and interesting insight.