More Thoughts On Eldar Corsairs: Webway Portals

Well I am officially back in good old Lansing. My time on the path of the outcast is over and it is time to tread the path of the Seer once again. Its been a busy month and the move, although smooth, has taken up a lot of time. I have been remiss in posting and for that I do apologize. The Judge, Samsquatch Monster and I have been setting up the 40K man cave in the basement of the house. The hobby areas are set and the tables are in progress.

I promised some more thoughts on the Eldar Corsairs list. Sadly I have not gotten another game in with them as of yet. I have had some more thoughts as I mill over the list though. I have put some thought into the many forms of deployment available to the army. I had officially dismissed the Void Dreamer. The powers he offers are nice in very specific situations. Sadly they do not have a decent blanket effect, nor does he have the utility of a Farseer to warrant using the HQ slot he takes up. Many of the more observant readers of Codexes and Imperial Armor books will notice that the Void dreamer has 2 entries for a Corsair Jump Pack. This is of course a typo and if you look at the Q&A entry on the Forgeworld site there is errata correcting this. The Void Dreamer demands a second look when you find out that the second Jump Pack Entry should be a Webway Portal.

This Opens up some possibilities. All of a sudden the Void Dreamer fits into a list with multiple deployment options. Using the corsair princes ability to allow up to three units to deep strike if they did not have the ability to do so already in conjunction with a Void Dreamer equipped with a webway portal, let you deliver your army quickly and efficiently. Dual Void Dreamers also opens up the option for a hybrid Craftworld style Webway list. I have been putting together some different list options running one Corsair Prince and One Void Dreamer as well as a Dual Void Dreamer List.

The prospect of delivering Webway portals via Falcon and a decently hardy Psyker is much more appealing than Haemonculis and a group of wracks. The defensive powers and slight offensive capability of the Void Dreamer combined with a small group of Corsair veterans or even just regular corsairs armed with some nice assault weapons ensures a very stable and easily defended beachhead for the army. The Falcons can harass the enemy while the Void Dreamers and their bodyguards establish the Webway portals in good positions. The real bonus to this is that you have 3 options with a lot of the units in the army.

You can deploy the traditional way and walk onto the board edge, or outflank with scouts, deploy via deep strike with your jump pack equipped units and come through the webway portal if no viable deep strike option is available.

This second look is really expanding the possibilities. I am more apt to take a Phoenix Bomber or Nightwing with 2 Falcons on the board. You have a decent amount of fire power on the table while the rest of your army awaits in reserve to react to your opponent. The only real Achilles heel to this style of list is the same one all reserve armies suffer from. The units coming in piece meal.

I will have more on this later, I will be trying the lists out this coming week as well as a Footdar list that I am sad to say I did not come up with. OST has been pondering my Footdar after facing them a few times and seems to have come up with a list of his own that seems pretty legit. More on that later.

Until then

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

Eldar Corsairs: Thoughts After The First Game

Its good to be back in good old Lansing. The move went pretty smooth. I am basically unpacked and the construction of the 40K basement of epicness has begun. Samsquatch Monster has been cleaning and getting the mountain of Tau and Space Wolves stowed away and organized. The Judge will be moving in over the next week. The 40K cave will have 3 tables as well as our 3 individual hobby areas as well as a fume hood for priming and an Airbrush Station. It should be very very nice.

As promised I am going to give my initial thoughts after using the Eldar Corsair list from Imperial Armor 11. I was going to do a full battle report, but the details are a bit foggy as it was a week ago and the game was pretty short. We only went 3 turns. I took on CVinton and his space wolves. I don't believe in doing things halfway so if I am going to test an army list or a new codex I want a tough opponent. I went with a foot list for the Corsairs, since I have been on a Footdar kick as of late.

My initial assessment of the viability of a foot list was flawed. If you look at the army list a foot list is possible thanks to the jet packs and relentless rule it provides. The amount of fire and flexibility of the units is clear. The real issue is the lack of protection. Also a lack of an Avatar means leadership tests. Granted the higher leadership values make the units hardier, but not invulnerable. The low armor saves are akin to Kabalite Warriors. Normally this is not an issue......when they are in transports or in cover.

Because the Corsairs use a high percentage of Craftworld weaponry, my brain decided I could run the Corsairs like Craftworlders. I should have been running them Like Dark Eldar. A strait up foot army hoofing it across the table was not a good idea with the Corsairs. I totally ignored the many different deployment options.

You have whole units that can scout, deep strike, outflank and arrive via webway portal. These deployment options let you run a decently viable foot list as long as you don't come in piece meal. Cvintons Long Fangs tore my army up very quickly and the Wolf Priest lead swift claw pack hit the heart of my army and laid it to waste. The whole lynchpin of the army was the Phoenix Bomber and it was dealt with after the first turn. After that the army kind of evaporated. The bomber is a very potent vehicle. The devastating amount of fire it laid down made it a very high priority target. Despite having a 4+ save it still fell to a torrent of missile fire.

I was also not very impressed with the Void Dreamer. The protections and enhancements the Void Dreamer provides are not that great. The lack of any runes of warding means the one anti psychic power is basically useless to the rest of the army as it only protects the Void Dreamer and the unit he may be joined to.

I am going to have to step back and really take a hard look at how to run this list. It has the weapons of a Craftworld army with the speed and mobility of the Dark Eldar. You can run it many different ways as well depending on your unit selection. I am milling the idea of a Corsair Variation of the Webway list. The main difference being that only about half of the army will arrive via portal, while the other elements will be on board and arriving by deep strike. Having the portal on the board lets you keep your deep strikers safe by giving them the option of coming out of the portal if no decent or viable deep strike position is available.

So I like the army, but I am unsure how viable it is. Granted I have only gotten one game in with it. I hope to get 4 or 5 more with the new list I am building taking advantage of the many deployment options.

Next time I will have some thoughts on Necrons. I played OST this past week with both my Craftworlders and my Dark Eldar. He was using Cvintons new Necron army. I was not prepared for to fight this new codex. Although I have read it cover to cover, I was not ready for how it played and flowed on the table. I was soundly beaten in both games in only 4 turns. The sheer torrent of fire was overwhelming. Tesla is powerful, but more on that next time.

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

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!

We Have Moved

I would like to apologize to all my readers for the lack of posts the past month.  I have been in the process of moving and between it, work and school its been pretty hectic.  This weekend is the big day.  I will be returning to Lansing for good on Saturday.  Samsquatch Monster is bringing his Landraider down, aka the 1 ton ford van, to move the rest of the big stuff.  Once I am settled in The modeling work can begin again.  An order to Chapter house is going in very soon and the rest of the bikes for the Team Tournament list are on the way.  I will also be able to slowly get back to work on the Kabal Of Da Big Teef.
I will have a battle report this weekend.  I tried out the Corsair list in IA 11 against Dark Future Games own CVinton and his Space Wolves. Probably not the best way to test a new list, but I am a go big or go home kinda guy.  Lets just say the way I use the army needs some major work.

Until next time..................

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!