The Test Of Khaine: April 14th

Well the Test was so popular last year we are doing it again.  This Test Of Khaine will take place on April 14th at Evolution Games.  The tournament will start promptly at 11 am and as Long as I can get Farseer Rerolls to open early registration will start at 10 AM.  It will be 1850 pts and no Foregworld Rules are allowed.  Standard force org is in full effect.  There will be 3 missions which will be posted this coming week.  Armies do not have to be painted, but a 3 color standard is encouraged as there will be prizes for best painted army.

Email me if you have any questions.

Hope to see you all there.


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

Fighting The Necron: Second Look at Eldar Units

Its been a busy week. Its been very very warm in Michigan this week, especially for March. Between the nice weather and car repairs its been tough to sit down and write. I have been contemplating the Eldar this week though. Contemplating how the fit into the new meta. Or I should say how they fit into the new meta now that Necrons have stormed the field once again. Old School Terminator and CVinton have been converted. They have been running rampant with their respective Armies of soulless killing machines for well over 2 months now. I have gotten in about 6 games against the Necron Codex and have lost every one. I am not ashamed to admit it. It has been a very good learning experience though.

I have been forced to really go through the Eldar codex and take a second look at units. Mainly units that have the capability of chasing down Command Barges and Night Scythes. I also have to balance the list out with units that can take down squads of immortals with little trouble. I am trying a different approach now. Units that have gone by the wayside have once again come to the forefront. It just goes to prove my point that you can know your army in and out, but you should always re read the codex. New situations and uses for units will always pop into your head.

Case in point I was faced with a modified, some would say meaner, version of CVintons “Tesla Orgy” when we played this past Friday at another local store, The Fortress. I broke out a very specialty unit for this battle. One that Eldar players oft overlook. In fact I seldom if ever use the red headed step child of Aspect Warriors. The Shining Spears. I took a hard look at all the units in the codex and the Spears kind of stuck out. Although their laser lances are very short range, they are strength 6 and a lance weapon. The Exarch can also pack a Star Lance which is strength 8 lance weapon. Given the Shining spears mobility and ability to hit and run. They make ideal Command Barge hunters.

In the game in question the Spears Acquitted themselves very well. Destroying a command barge on Turn one and then hunting down the Lord like a dog. Sadly due to the small unit size casualties were high. The Exarch, however, was on fire as he was the only member to live for most of the game. He claimed both command Barges and a Lord.

Another favorite Aspect of mine is the Swooping Hawks. They made a go at one of the Command Barges as well and were able to destroy its Tesla weapon before it ran off into the welcoming arms of the Shining Spear Exarch. I needed to run a bigger squad though. The intercept ability along with haywire grenades make them ideal for hunting fast vehicles and fast skimmers. You just have to be careful as they have a tendency to draw fire and they are fairly lightly armored. I only ran 6 in the squad and I should have run 8 maybe 10.

I don't know why I have not been running Dark reapers enmasse in the backfield. They are classic “Marine killers” and when you have a Farseer guiding and dooming they can wipe out heavy targets pretty quickly. Again I should have run more than one squad. The single squad was able to punish the immortal squads, despite the solar pulse being used on 2 turns. In fact the Solar pulse was the only thing really keeping all 3 Immortal squads alive, that and me only running 1 squad of Reapers. The squad was also able to clean up the scarab farm after a nice cleansing in the form of twin destructors from Eldrads Warlock retinue.

I am starting to see the value in running Pathfinders as my troop choices. Its a rare thing anymore where fluff actually points to an efficient army. Alaitoc Craftworld has been hunting down tomb worlds for thousands of years. They are the last of the Eldar that still remember their duty to the old ones. I may be starting up a second Craftworld soon. Running lots of Pathfinders and Rangers. The 2 squads I ran were able to get most of the Necron army in a nice big field of overlapping fire. Although they are more expensive than Dire Avengers and guardians, their shooting ability and range is better and they can deploy pretty much anywhere, giving you the ability to hold objectives effectively. Since pathfinders can potentially have a 2+ cover save they are very hard to get rid of without dedicating a ton of shooting. Even so they out range most other units. They are effective at taking out normal infantry and monstrous creatures.

So now I go to refine the list. With all this work going into dealing with the Necrons you may think its a massive amount of list tailoring on my part. It is actually, but any army I bring that is effective against the Necrons I think will also be very effective against any other army as well. Also my justification for tailoring is this. Although its nice having an all comers list, Eldar are a very specialized force and with the age of the codex showing, a bit of tailoring to the meta is very much needed to roll with all the new kids on the block.

So more on the list development as it happens. I will be announcing the official date and posting missions for the “Test Of Khaine” tournament in the coming week. I will also be hopefulling continuing my old series “The Foundations Of Vengeance” on Dark Future Games.

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

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

The Stormlord vs BigMek SkrapKlaw

True to form, the Orks confounded Imhotek, and sent the Necrons back to the junk heap.

Ok, first disclaimer, I'm writing this blog post off of the Blogger iPhone app, and I don't have all the nifty formatting controls.

Secondly, due to school and breaking my ankle, I have been off the grid for quite some time. Now, with SeerK going thru hobby malaise, I totally sympathize, and I've personally been struggling to get back on that horse for a while now. Well, thanks to BigMek, I've cleared off the cobwebs and played my first game with the new Necron codex.

I pretty much took a whole lot of new units to test out, paying little attention to actual army cohesion. After taking everything I wanted, I still had about 1000 points left. That was the first shocker. The point costs were shifted and I didn't feel so out gunned.

My army consisted of:
Imhotek
5 Deathmarks
24 Immortals with Tesla
2 Monoliths
4 Tomb Blades with Tesla, Shields, and enhanced BS
6 Scarabs
5 Lychguard with Sword and Shield
1 Triarch Stalker
1 Annihilation Barge

I was just a shade under 1850. Lots of new stuff to try out.

I'm afraid I don't know the ork army well enough to give BigMek's deployment. Feel free to add it in, BigMek.

For this battle, we were fighting for 4 objectives, spearhead deployment. The Stormlord kept night fighting going for all but the last round. I suggest using this power, the lightning ended up impairing two of his vehicles, and destroyed some weaponry off of them.

I jumped on the tesla bandwagon for this fight too. I must say, it is nice. However, for a vehicle heavy army like BigMek's I certainly missed the gauss weaponry. After the game BigMek suggested that I should have swapped the Tomb Blades to TL gauss, and used them to turbo boost and take out the rear armor. I totally agree with him. Tesla is anti troop, and doesn't have much teeth against vehicles.

The Triarch stalker was the MIP for me. The tesla destructor was harsh, and the targeting array made a TL array of death over a squad of nobs and a vehicle.

I never got a chance to try out the scarabs, BigMek's coptas chewed them up first thing. The Death marks never hit the board either. I have the worst luck with reserves, and I didn't read the new monolith rules well enough to think to have them come out there. Next time.

Speaking of monoliths, they are a solid unit still. The particle whip did its thing like normal, and sucking Orks into the portal did the most damage to BigMek's army. They will continue to be in the army list.

The annihilation barge was good too, but it didn't really get to cut its teeth.

I scooped after BigMek squashed the last squad of immortals. I could have continued to round 5, but having no troops to hold the objectives, I didn't see the point.

You have won this round BigMek, but I want a rematch.


-Stormlord

The Enemy Awakens: Fighting The Necron

Art by majestic Chicken

The ancient enemy has awoken. We have been lax in our sacred duty. The Necrotyr must be stopped before they overrun the galaxy. Who would have thought that Matt Ward was secretly a Xenos lover. The Necron army has gone from a second rate old codex to a powerhouse that is winning GT's and getting savvy Lords best General awards at said GT's.

One of the biggest obstacles I have been facing with the development of my Footdar army has been the new Necron army. OST and CVinton both are whipping their robots back and fourth. The Style of army they are running I have dubbed the “Tesla Orgy”. If there is anything that really shows the age of your codex its facing up against a brand spanking new one. The Necrons got the “Ward Treatment”in their latest iteration. The amount of firepower they can lay down would make even a Imperial Guard commander blush.

This proves to be a problem. Granted its the same issue you face when marching towards any gun line, but you have some new and unique problems when facing the Necrons. At least once you extract Imperial Guard from their transports or reach their line the guardsman, although numerous, are easy to dispatch. The Necron army is different. Its like facing down an Imperial guard gun line with the Guardsman all being Space Marines. The Tesla weapons add another element. The hits really stack up once the 6's start getting rolled. High Strength combined with the ability to arc to other targets further complicates a foot list. The arcing does not happen that often, but it does add a bit of a wild card. Units sitting at 50% can find themselves under rather quickly from an arc coming from a neighboring unit. This can really through a monkey wrench in your plans at some inopportune moments.

The Necron Lord also now has a transport. Affectionately called “The Douche Canoe” The command barge gives the Necron player a mobile oppression palace that can wreck havoc in the back field of your army. The fly by attack ability combined with a war scythe put your vehicles in jeopardy as the lord gets to hit rear armor. The lord can also absorb damage done to the barge by taking a wound.

Scarabs are another annoyance that gets out of hand quickly. The entropic strike ability really puts your vehicles in danger. Given the size of the swarms people are running it is also hard to take them out quickly before they reach your lines.

The real issue is that even if you have very regimented fire discipline the amount of targets presented that are a threat is high. Be it Immortals, lords, scarabs, annihilation barges or whatever. You cant ignore targets. The real trick is prioritization of targets by proximity. This is where consistently playing Eldar for years comes in handy. You know your army and you have to think a turn or two ahead while still adjusting to battlefield conditions and changes. You may be saying “SeerK I have not been playing forever what do you mean?” I will elaborate.

Depending on the type of list you are running, Ie Mech or Foot or a mix of the two, you have to look at the set up and position of the opposing force. In this case you have to look at the ranges of the enemy weapons. Tesla weapons all have a range of 24 inches. This is a severe limitation when a Necron army is facing a mobile force like the Eldar or the Dark Eldar. The annihilation barges can get into range quickly but at the same time this leaves them exposed to your big guns, which is most certainly have a much longer range. I am finding that the ubiquitous Scatter Laser is your best friend when facing the Necron menace.

With a range of 36 inches and a strength of 6, you out range Tesla based armies, and have enough punch to wound Immortals and warriors consistently. You also kill one whole base of Scarabs with a successful wound. This is all well and good unless your opponent is being “Eldar Cheaty”, as Samsquatch Monster puts it, by using Crypteks and all of their unique abilities to hamper the enemy.

I speak first and foremost about the Solar Pulse ability. This drowns your opponent in night fight for their turn. This has been the major problem for my Footdar. Bringing fire to bear on the Necron force as it advances is much much harder when you are limited by spotting distance. This allows the Necron force to advance mostly unmolested as you cannot bring your full weight of fire. Night Spinners can overcome this as you can fire indirectly. The weight of fire is not heavy though with pair or loan night spinner though.

SO as it stands I am trying to formulate a coherent plan of attack against the ancient enemy. Strength 6 weapons with long range and highly mobile units that can make hit and run attacks on foot units while pursuing the faster units is what I have so far. I am also toying with different deployment options. Mainly infiltrating units and deep strikers to hit targets holding objectives and camping out in the back field. Old fashioned simple solutions.

Well I hope to have a battle report for this weekend after I get a game in with the newly reworked Footdar list.

Until next time.....

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

Time To Start Anew: Getting My Game Back

Well February has been pretty eventful. I am trying to get back on the horse as it were. I wanted to just mention something to my readers. Over the past 3 weeks I have been having a pretty bad bout with depression and having anxiety and panic attacks. This I am guessing this has been causing my hobby malaise and lack of inspiration in writing, Or I should say that was the first symptom I really noticed. This kind of thing is new to me. I am not looking for sympathy mind you. Any support given is appreciated, but I wanted to kind of lay it out as to why I have been MIA as of late. On that note I am starting March on a good foot. I have started Therapy and I have also been breaking out the Footdar and plotting the Corsair lists.

I have gotten in a couple games with a list, that sadly, I did not originally concept. OST from Dark Future Games is a kind of an idiot savant when making random army lists. The concept of Footdar has been the major topic of conversation. He presented a list to me that I really had to tweak to make fit into an 1850 point limit. My customary seer council was absent. I had a squad of Fire dragons, yeah on foot, and a pair of Wraithlords supported by a war walker squadron.

I had a small squad of rangers, a 15 man guardian squad and 2 10 man squads of Dire Avengers for troops. The Avatar and Eldrad rounded out the list. All in all it was not a bad list. I played OST and his Tyranids. I had my “A” game back for a while and we played a very bloody game that ended in a tie that OST really had to work for. The only real parts of the list I want to change are the Fire Dragons and the Wraitlords as they did not really contribute and just kind of died quickly.

I know I have said it numerous times, but the Footdar really do Need a long range support line to be effective. I plan on removing the Wraitlords and the Fire Dragons and possibly putting in a second War walker Squadron or actually Running Dual Dark Reaper Squads.

The Corsair List I tried out tonight in the Basement lair against CVinton did not fair so well. I ran A singe Corsair Prince, 3 corsair squads deep striking, a Wasp squadron, 2 Phoenix Bombers, a Nightwing and a Retinue for the Prince in a falcon.

Sadly I went up against CVintons Tesla orgy. His Necron army is pretty tough and the amount of firepower it can bring to the table is pretty scary. I came in piece meal with my Corsair squads while the Phoenix bombers took the brunt of the Tesla Assault. I have to say for the amount of fire they bring to the army they really go down quick once your opponent sees how much fire they can lay down. They are very much glass cannons. At 245 points they are also very expensive.

I have having a real hard time wrapping my brain around this list. Its more specialized than the dark Eldar. Granted I have only really gotten in 2 games in with the army so I am just making a real early judgment. So far I have not found the niche so I am going to back burner it while I really work on the Footdar.

I would also like to not I sold off my Dark Eldar Army. I am trying to rekindle my hobby bug and I think cutting it down to one army is going to really help bring my focus back. It also gives me the chance to fix and do maintenance on the Eldar as they are well traveled and need some touching up and fixing.

Well Back to the trenches. I will be posting information about the “Test Of Khaine” tournament in the next week. It will be April 7^th. Although my location is in question and limbo at the moment. More on that as I find out.

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

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