Lets Kill some MOn'keigh: Duke Sliscus

Duke Sliscus is a mad man. He is a Pirate who is about as unpredictable as they come. He left the dark city because he was tired of the petty and lethal politicking. He ply’s the stars raiding and slaughtering with is Pirate band the Sky Serpents and has done so for thousands of years. He is a hero to many Dark Eldar and a thorn in the side of others, especially the 3 Archons he stole his ships from.

I really like the Duke. I am basing my Dark Eldar force on him and his Sky Serpents. The two things that really endeared The Duke to me were two of his special rules. He allows all Venoms, Raiders and Ravagers to Deep strike as he prefers orbital insertion. Second he also rolls two dice for combat drugs and chooses the highest. Add in the fact he can nominate on warrior or Trueborn unit and allow their splinter weapons to wound on a 3+ and his twin venomed blades which wound on a 2+ ignore armor on a wound roll of 5 or 6 you have a very nice character. He is a bargain at 150 points. The Duke is armed with a blast pistol, his venom blades, carries plasma grenades, combat drugs, a shadow field and ghost plate armor.

He also has a nice stat line that will ensure he strikes first and hard. The Duke must start the game joined to a Kabalite warrior squad or Kabalite Trueborn squad. This is really not an issue as he is not an Archon and cannot take a retinue. This means you want him in a unit so he is not by himself and an easy Target.

I have centered my Dark Eldar strategy on the Duke. My current army lists have been using him and 3 haemonculi along with 3 Kabalite Warrior units on Raiders as the core. I have been toying with the other units. The latest version saw action against Vogrin this past Saturday and did not do so well, mostly because of dumb luck. As previously stated this codex is unforgiving and mistakes are disastrous.

I am using the Dukes theme of mobility and vertical insertion, I know sounds bad, to hone the list. I am using Kabalite Trueborns on Venoms as deep striking anti tank units. I am also using Voidraven bombers to wreck utter havoc with exposed infantry and heavy armor. By using the Duke you do not have to upgrade vehicles with retrofire jets, thus saving points, and you essentially get a Dark Eldar drop pod army. You can hit hard and fast. In theory is should work great. This is proving to be a challenge though to make it work. The main thing we discovered is that there is no exceptions for fast vehicles when it comes to occupants shooting out of them when they move at cruising speed. Occupants cannot fire when the vehicle moves at cruising speed. When you deep strike you count as moving at cruising speed . This snagged my plans for the Kabalite Trueborns and the warrior units as I had splinter rack installed on the raiders and the Trueborns had 4 blasters in their small 5 man squads mounted on venom’s. I was forced to rethink the strategy after loosing a lot of troops because I had to dismount them to fire on enemy tanks. I like to blame this on the Dukes tendency to sacrifice all his troops just to get one kill. The guy is kind of crazy after all.

I like the Duke and his crazy ways. The Sky Serpents are defiantly going to be the theme for my army as I paint and collect the new models.

I will post more as I develop the list and use the Duke more. I will have my battle report with Vogrin up later this week. I will also have the last part of the Phoenix Court of Khaine. I will also have a battle report up about my Craftworlders. They fought a Green Tide ork list Saturday night and to my surprise the only survivor was a single flash git. I will post the list.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flow Like Water: List Development

List development for Adepticon continues. I have version three of my list and I have gotten three good games in with it. The guys at Evolution games are a good bunch to play with. Austin and his Chaos Marines have played the list twice. He has played version two and version three. Papa Nurgle played me with his loathsome plague infested horde last night against version 3. 2 victories and 2 ties. So far in the lists development. Papa Nurgle and Old school Terminators nids have tied me and I have defeated the forces of the traitor legions twice. I think I need to see if the local Warboss's want to throw down this coming week. One advantage to playing at Evolution Games is we have a pretty esoteric mix of armies and players. We actually don't have the horde of space marines you would expect to find. I have determined I need to face off against some orks and Blood Angels as well as some Space wolves.

Playing a lot of games versus all the different armies is key in developing a tournament style list. You have certain perceptions about how a list is going to do before you use it. These perceptions mean nothing until you play the list. The more opponents you play the more you learn about its strengths and weaknesses. You must expose the weaknesses so they are not a surprise in the middle of a game.

You can deal with a deficiency in a couple different ways.

• You adjust your list to fully of partially compensate for the weakness. For example, you have trouble dealing with lots of tanks. You can swap weapons on your Wave serpents to bright lances. You can add a unit of fire dragons. Basically a minor tweak. You drop a unit or some options to add a unit. I like to do this with my lists as long as they have a solid foundation.
• You totally rebuild the list from the ground up making sure you cover all your bases. This means you start with a solid core and a specific goal. This means you make the list to take objectives and or kill units. The units you use must work as one towards this goal and provide mutual overlapping support. I know its like beating a dead horse but you cannot play an Eldar army like a space marine army. Your units are specialized and must work in conjunction with the others. For objectives I look at it as all the other units are there to protect the troops units and engage the enemy forces as to support the taking and holding of objectives even at the cost of the unit. Granted you don't want to needlessly sacrifice units, but you have to play aggressively and throw caution to the wind. Make your opponent completely forget about the objectives.

If a list performed poorly you must determine why it performed poorly. This is the part most players fail at. They cannot identify why a list failed. People will play a list they believe to be infallible and invincible only to see it utterly destroyed. I see people online posting lists and saying how invincible they are. One man's gold is another man’s garbage. Just because it works well for one person does not mean it will fit the playing style you use. Farseer Re-roll’s over at Dark Future Games and I both play Eldar. We have very different playing styles though. He uses lots of Pathfinders and Warp Spiders. He also uses 2 regular Farseers that are rather minimalistic. I use Eldrad Ulthran quite a bit and one huge seer council. I also like to use Swooping hawks and hordes of Guardians. I also use the Avatar quite a bit. So our approach to the same situations is different.

Basically what I am trying to say is play what feels right and realize when something is not working. Even if you think its an awesome unit, if it does not work with the rest of the list drop it, or build a list that works with it. The later can be very risky though as you generally end up with a very specialized list. A great man was quoted as saying

“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Bruce Lee was referring to Martial Arts training during his time. There is truth in the statement though. You must be adaptable. Eldar armies must flow. Then they can Crash into the enemy like a great wave.

Next time we begin the Seven Deadly Venom’s series. The Avatar of Khaine and the Phoenix Lords.

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

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

They see me spinnin they be hatin: Night Spinner tactics.

Games Workshop saw fit to give Eldar players a new tank a few months ago. The Night Spinner was received with mixed feelings and much lamentation by forum trolls. I of course went out and bought one not to build another Fire Prism but specifically to Build a wave serpent. I now find myself scouring eBay for turrets. I really like this tank and in the 3 games I have used it in it has been very effective.

The consensus seems to be that this is a lackluster attempt at a new tank. I just say you are using it wrong. The Night Spinner is an excellent support tank. This is especially true for armies that are in a rush to get to your lines and assault you. Being strength 6 and having a large blast will wound just about anything pretty easily. Add in the Rending and you have a very nice weapon. Add in the fact anything touched by the template is treated as moving through difficult and dangerous terrain you can have some real fun.

Deployment is important. You want to keep the Spinner as far from the enemy as possible. This means moving around. Stay hidden. Since the Death Spinners are ordnance barrage weapons you can fire indirectly. Stay moving and hug terrain to make it difficult for deep striking units to land close. I guarantee they will try as soon as you start laying into enemy units.

To start off my fire I always target units that I know are going to advance. Close combat units, units with short range weapons and the like. This will make your opponent thinks twice about moving them and might even take a few out. Large units are a good target choice as the more dice you roll the better the possibility of a failed dangerous terrain test. Affected units also must take pinning tests at a -1 since its an ordnance barrage. This will keep units out of action and allow you to position your units for maximum effectiveness. Concentrating fire on units that have been affected by the Death Spinner will force leadership tests with enough casualties. This may force them to move and take dangerous terrain tests. If you are lucky and inflicted enough kills it may bring a unit below 50%.

Coordinated fire and fire discipline is key. Hit units first with the Death Spinners then regular fire. Force saves, pinning checks and leadership tests. You can slow down the momentum of an army, especially a close combat oriented one, by hitting key units. Despite the chance being slim you would be surprised how often players will not move units for fear of taking dangerous terrain tests. One thing to remember is not to fire on units you know are not going to move. If you can target multiple units do so. Your opponent will be forced to spread out and this hurts the using units and vehicles as cover strategy. Remember cover is determined from the center of the blast template so you can bypass cover easily. Vehicles and infantry are equally affected. I squared up against a plague marine heavy army this past week. He army was bunched up and ponderously advanced towards the bulk of my forces in the corner of the table. The Night Spinner was positioned behind some walls. Every turn I rained down monfiliment web on the advancing group. The template was hitting three or four units at a time. Every turn one or two plague marines died. It earned it points by slowing the advance and nickel and diming the enemy units to death. To my opponents credit though he still moved forward. Inexperienced players will freeze and not know what to do. Experienced players will wade through so you cannot rely on the Night Spinner to stop the enemy in its tracks. This is where coordinating your fire comes in.

SO I love this tank. I plan on using at least one in my Adepticon list. I have version 3 of the prototype list done for testing. I went from a tie with version one against Old School Terminator Tyranids to a 12-4 KP victory over a Plague Marine Army with version two. I look forward to testing version three this coming Wednesday.

I will be adding an author to the blog soon too. A very good friend of mine is starting into the hobby and wants to share some thoughts and ideas about 40k and Fantasy battle. So I guess its time for me to break out some high elves.

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

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

The Art of War pt 3: The Seer Council

I really do like Farseers. I think that is why I have always have had an Ulthwe themed Eldar army. Honestly besides the Avatar of Khaine is your only real good HQ choice in the list. I have had smatterings of Seer council advice in a few blogs but I decided for part 3 of the art of war to just cover Farseers and Seer Councils as they are the real backbone of the army. They tie everything together and let all the units do their thing and do it well in support of each other.

The basic Farseer clocks in at 55 points. You get a Ghost Helm, Witch Blade, shuriken pistol and Rune Armor. You then buy your upgrades and psychic powers.

Upgrades

Singing Spear- I hardly every buy this option for my Seers unless I am running two of them. I then equip the Warlocks with the Seer with Singing Spears as well so I have a nice short ranged anti tank, thanks to the strength of 9 against vehicles, / support unit. This option should be considered carefully. As your Farseer only has one base attack you only get 2 attacks in close combat. This can be bad if you are taking on a big unit. Granted as long as you have a warlock with enhance and a doom on the unit you are fighting you will make every attack count and pretty much everything that hits will wound.

Runes of Warding- No Farseer should be without runes of warding. In fact unless you have no threat of facing psykers you should always have this upgrade. Although some forum guys say its a waste to give it both your Seers if you are running two . I ignore this as I want to make sure my opponents psykers are taking tests on 3d6 even if I loose a Farseer. This upgrade really is a thorn in the side of Librarian and Rune Priest heavy armies. Eldar are the best psykers in the game so make your opponents remember that.

Runes of Witnessing- You should always equip your Farseer with this upgrade. Even if you have given a Warlock Embolden in his retinue you are much less likely to fail any psychic tests when you are taking them on 3d6 and taking the lowest two.

Spirit Stones- This is also an upgrade I think of as required. Having the ability to use two psychic powers a turn is very important. It allows you to doom a unit or guide it and cast fortune on the Farseer and his retinue.

Eldar Jetbike- This option is best for a second Seer or if you are doing an all mech list. The mobility you are afforded is awesome. You can get the Farseer into range where his powers are most effective and needed and then move him into cover and out of sight. Things do get expensive very quickly though when you start handing out bikes. You must not be tempted to have the ultimate Seer Council of doom at the expense of the rest of your force. I keep the council small so it can easily get behind objects that block line of sight. You can't do that with 11 models in the squad.

Psychic powers

Fortune- This power is probably one of the best and most important powers to take for two reasons. First it increases the squads survivability by a lot. You can take large amounts of shooting and come out relatively unscathed. Second this really frustrates your opponent and he will either throw everything he has at the council or just leave it alone as he feels he cannot hurt it. Playing Eldar is basically like playing the odds. This power gives you much better odds.

Guide- Like Fortune this is a nice power to take if you are running a seer that is going to be near units on a permanent basis. I use this power quite a bit with my Pathfinder units. Re rolling misses gives them a much better chance of getting AP1 hits. Again you are getting the odds to play in your favor. You really do want to doom any unit that the guided unit is shooting at to really make sure it takes the maximum amount of wounds and saves.

Eldritch Storm- Even though this power is only strength 3 it is a large blast template it is very very useful and not often used. You get 2d6+3 armor penetration and it spins the vehicle in a random direction. It is also pinning. SO you can wreck a lot a havoc with units that are clumped together. I only really use this power though when I am using Eldrad. My other seers are pretty lean on powers for points purposes.

Mind War- This is one of my favorite powers. Being able to inflict very large number of wounds with one roll is pretty nice. Granted its is really only effective when you use it on models with low leadership. This is a nice power to take out all those pesky heavy weapon, special weapons and power weapons. Your opponents really loose heart when they loose their precious power fists and plasma guns. Combine this with fire from the retinue and you can really cut down squads to make sure you wipe them out in close combat. Try to avoid models with invulnerably saves unless its a high one and their leadership is like 8 or lower.

Doom- This is the power that really strikes fear into opponents. Any ability that gives you the ability to re-roll wounds is powerful. This power is so great because you cast it once and any failed wounds the affected squads takes until your next turn can be re rolled. This means massive casualties between shooting and 2 assault phases. Dooming a unit can really discourage its use. So besides the obvious effect of more wounds it is also a demoralizing power.

Warlock Retinue

My Warlock retinues are usually pretty big. At least 6. One Warlock should have Embolden so you can re-roll any failed leadership rolls, which includes psychic tests. One with Enhance so you hit most enemy units on a 3 and go way before them in combat with an initiative of 5. I like to also give 2 Warlocks Destructor so you can deal with large units before you charge them. Destructor is pretty devastating against anything with a 4+ or worse armor save.

If you are mounting your Farseer on a bike I limit my council to 4 Warlocks as the unit gets expensive really quick. I do 4 so I can give the Warlocks the power list I just mentioned.

The Farseer and his retinue is a very powerful unit. They can take out just about anything with very little problem. You can afford to be a little bold, but do not damn the torpedoes so to speak. You want this unit to stay alive so use it intelligently.

OK that’s another 2 cents about the Seer Council. I will have another battle report up Saturday. I got a test run in for my prototype Adepticon list versus one of our local Chaos Marine players. It was not pretty. Th list did very well though.

Until then........

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

The Art of War: Eldar Tactics pt 2

I keep emphasizing mutual support and using your units in concert so your whole army acts like one entity rather than just the individual parts. All your units working together and achieving greater results than they could alone is called synergy. Synergy, in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently.

The term synergy comes from the ancient Greek word syn-ergos, meaning 'working together'

I am having a feeling of deja vu. Me thinks Old School Terminator had some things to say about this as well, but in regard to his Tyranids over at Dark Future Games.

So how do you use your units together to achieve greater results. It sounds simple, but it really is not. As any seasoned Eldar player knows, a vast majority of your units are really good at one thing. The problem is that you must make all these specialists work like a well oiled machine and not have the whole army fall apart when one unit is destroyed. This is why many player give up on Eldar. They just cannot make it work.

Unit Interaction

So how do you make it work? The first thing you must do is give your units a job and make them stick to the job. The dire avengers are going to hold the objective. The Dark reapers are going to support the Dire Avengers by eliminating threats and approaching units. Giving a unit a job is basically tasking them with the one thing they are good at. If you re-task a unit every turn you loose efficiency and you potentially throw off the flow of the army. By re task I mean using the unit in a different capacity. Going from anti infantry to anti vehicle with dark reapers and not really supporting another unit. Fire Discipline must be maintained. You must resist the temptation to throw everything you have at one target. If you sacrifice support fire to take down a target that is not an immediate threat you risk loosing a n important unit or a unit holding an objective.

One of the most important forms of support is how you use your Seer Council or Farseer. As psychic powers are one major advantage the Eldar army has, you need to use them effectively and efficiently.

I Ideally like to have 2 Farseers. I use Eldrad Ulthran a lot as he is the best psyker in the game and he is a bargain at 210 points. This allows me to run an inexpensive second Farseer. Mobility is important for the second seer. I usually give the second seer only 2 powers and mount him on a jet bike. Fortune and Doom are your best power options. If there are lots of low leadership models I also give him Mind War. Mind war is an excellent way to deal with heavy weapons squads and specialists. You can remove specific models to assist your other units.

So basically to sum up you must stay on task and keep your eye on the prize so to speak. You will run into instances where a unit will get into a situation it is not equipped to deal with but this is why you must make sure you can support that unit with another that is good at that particular situation. Your opponet may strike at opportunity targets or just fire at the big shiny units they deem a threat. You must keep one thing in mind. If the game is objective based you must make the entire task and mission of the army as a whole to take and defend the objectives. If its a kill point mission then you must systematically eliminate each enemy unit one at a time.

Well there is my two cents. It may not be exact and may even be vague but that's what happens when you play Eldar. You have to essentially learn the army. They are not forgiving and easy to play like marines. Next time I am going to talk about how to approach different army types, IE shooty armies, deep striking armies and so on and so fourth.

Until then....

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

The Art of War: Eldar tactics pt 1

Well its time to get down to business. I may not be the greatest Seer out there but my Win record is pretty good. So its time to share my thoughts and tactics I have used to win battle for the glory of Ulthwe.

When fielding a War-host in battle you cannot think of it as individual units. You must think of it as a single weapon. The individual units are nothing without the others. You cannot rely on a single unit to carry you through the battle, no matter how awesomely powerful it is. One of the first hurdles for a Seer is to determine the deployment of your force.

Deployment

5^th edition has lead to mechanized forces being almost the norm for any game you play. With the Exception of Tyranid and Daemon armies, which have many ways to Deep Strike, out flank and otherwise get in your face really quick, you are going to be facing units dug into cover or advancing in a transport. When I deploy my War host I have 3 “layers” to the force. The first layer is my units that are mounted up in wave serpents. These form the main attack force. Depending on the number of units this is and if I have any units deep striking I will keep one or 2 of these units in reserve as a relief force to keep momentum up in an attack. Keeping back a Unit of Dire Avengers or a Jet Bike Squad in reserve is a good way to keep your troop choices safe for some late turn objective grabs.

The second layer is composed of the long ranged support troops such as Dark Reapers, support platforms, Rangers and Night Spinners. Fire Prisms can be in the first or second layer depending on your strategy. I personally like to keep them in the second layer to support the advancing forces and supporting the units holding objectives. Ranger are great for holding objectives in cover. I will talk about objective placement in the next section as it will help determine your deployment.

The second layers whole job is to support the advancing force and keep enemy units from the objectives. Attacking units should not be pulled back as this will force a loss of momentum in your attack which gives your opponent time and opportunity to strike back hard as you redeploy your army.

That said you must make sure that your second layer is dug in. You must set up units in cover and make it very costly for your opponent to get them out. Giving your Rangers and Dark reapers a good vantage point of the battle field is important. I favor buildings, but I like to put them on a mid level rather than on the top. This prevents barrage weapons from targeting them indirectly As they can only hit the top floor.

The third layer consists of your deep striking and out flanking units. These reserve troop are essential to continue the push by the first layer or back up a faltering second layer. The whole key, as I have always said, is all the units working as one and mutually supporting the others. Fire discipline is key. Identify targets with the most threat and the ones he needs to complete the game. Laying into a killer unit it all well and good until the troops choice you were ignoring waltzes in and takes the objective.

Set-up

Strait up kill point games are pretty strait forward. Objective games have some nuances. Objective placement is going to help determine where and how you are going to deploy your troops. You must guard your troops choices so that they can take objectives and defend them. This means Wave Serpents. I almost always use Dire Avengers as my objective holders as they are good all around troops and can dish out some pain. Their weapon range is also good.

Objectives should be placed in cover. This way the units holding them can benefit from a cover save and it mucks up assaults for enemy troops. You also want the objectives you place to be in your long range support troops line of sight and range. Overlapping fields of fire are important as this means you can more effectively defend the objectives.

SO theirs a start. I will continue this nest time. I must prepare for tonight’s campaign game. I have another rematch with the Judge and the Archon has one last chance to prove himself.

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

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

I see Dead people: Wraithguard

Well this started out as an entry for the Elites section of the Eldar Codex. Then I realized I had already kind of covered the entire Elites section with the Aspects of Khaine Series. So rather than be redundant I will cover the last unit in the Elites section. The mighty and often wrongly used Wraithguard.

Next to Dark Reapers these are the most expensive troops in the codex. At 35 points each they are expensive. Add in the Warlock and you have a unit that has the potential to do some real damage if used correctly. Many on the Forums scoff at Wraithguard and the concept of the “Wraith Wall”. The “Wraith Wall” is basically an Iyanden Ghost Warrior army. You have 2 units of 10 Wraithguard with a Warlock upgraded to a Spirit Seer and at least 2 Wraithlords making up the bulk of the points of the army. With a Maxed out, points wise, Warlock leading the 10 man unit the squad clocks in at around 396 points. Hefty for a troops choice. This is the only way to get Wraithguard as a troops choice though.

The whole strategy is not so different from a Necron Phalanx formation. You march the Wraithguard and Wraithlords forward while you advance your other foot troops behind them in support. Since they are toughness 6 and you can hit them with Conceal they become hard to kill and when they get into weapons range the opposing army is supposed to fold due to the nature of the Wraithcannon. In theory anyways. I am not here to debate the “Wraith Wall” though, although I may in the future.

Wraithguard are tough and pack a mean punch at close range. I use them in squads of 5. this way I can pack them with their warlock into a Wave Serpent. Given the small number in the squad I use them to take out tanks and monstrous creatures. Small command squads are good to but given the short range of the wraith cannon you want to make sure whatever you are hitting is not going to be able to shoot back or assault you. If you are busting vehicles you want to make sure you arm their wave serpent with Anti-infantry in mind to help support the unit. Shuriken cannons, scatter lasers or even Missile launchers are all good choices. Even if you are using Wraithguard to take out big nasties like trygons or carnifexes or even daemon princes using high strength anti infantry weapons like scatter laser are recommended. This will force more rolls and possible kill any retinue. You cannot rely on an instant kill from the wraith cannon with only 5 in the unit. Also if the target has an invulnerably save you cannot rely on the instant kill to go off. Use of doom is recommended just to maximize your kills. Rolling a 1 with only 5 in the unit takes away 20% of your kill potential. Also I like to actually put a Farseer into the unit just so he can guide them and provide better backup than a warlock You want to make every shot count. I still also include the Warlock though. Having 2 invulnerably saves in the unit you can re-roll is nice.

This is why most people do not use or just don't use Wraithguard properly. They must be protected and delivered to the front line as fast as possible where they can make up for their points value. They can be very devastating. I have taken out unwounded mawlocs and trygons with one hit. Remember above all else to support them with the other units in the army. Take out the hand to hand specialists with you scorpions or banshees. Rain down death with your dark reapers. Keep the other units to busy to really be able to do anything about the Wraithguard walking ominously amongst their army. Wraithguard, mush like the Wraithlord is what I like to call a terror troop. The enemy generally douses their pants at the sight of them and then make rash and hasty decisions in order to get rid of them. Layers the protections and the support for Wraithguard continues this illusion by saying “these guys are valuable and I don't want them to die” Most players would not think that you would blow so many points on a very lethal distraction. 40K is as much a psychological game as it is a game of strategy and generalship. If your opponent is freaking out then you play on that fear and turn it to your advantage. Wraithguard and Wraithlords are generally feared because of one used to great effect against the person at one time or another or they have never faced one and do not know how to counter it. You must use that to your advantage. Make the unit stand out prominently and make it seem its the lynch pin of your army. This could cause the expenditure of a lot of resources by your opponent to kill the unit. This distracts him or her from the real goal or threat.

SO there you have it my 2 cents on the remaining Elites choice in the codex. As soon as I figure out how I want to illustrate it I am going to start covering army set up and deployment. Then we will move into tactics based on mission.

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

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

Swift Death: Eldar Fast Attack

Being able to close quickly with your opponent is important in 5^th edition. The usual method is transports and deep striking units. Most units fall under the Fast slot in the organization chart. The Eldar being a quick and fast race have some very nice fast attack choices. Warp Spiders, Swooping Hawks, Shining spears and Vyper Squadrons gives you four very different options for your army.

Since 3 out of 4 fast attack choices are Aspect Warriors I will only touch on them briefly since they were all covered in individual detail in my Aspects of Khaine series.

Warp Spiders are deep strike specialists. Since they are jump infantry and have the warp jump packs they are very mobile and can cause a lot of chaos in the enemies rear. Armed with strength 6 weapons they can easily deal with tougher infantry and light vehicles and then jump away from harm. I don't use them often which some find odd. Don't get me wrong they are great back field skirmishers but they don't fit into my play style often. They are a stronger choice than swooping hawks though in most situations. Swooping Hawks are more lightly armed but are better at taking out vehicles. Since transports and mechanized forces are a lot more common now I use Swooping hawks more. They have the Intercept power so they never have worse than a +4 to hit vehicles and they have Haywire Grenades which are very effective in disabling vehicles. Especially vehicles with high armor values, since you don't roll for armor penetration. They are mobile and can bring some nice massed fire for light infantry. I have an idea for an 1850 list for Adepticon this year that involves the Hawks, but more on that as it develops.

Shining spears are quite specialized and really don't fit well in most lists. This is a shame because they really are effective in dealing with heavy infantry and light vehicles. They work well in support of Guardian Jet bike Squads and Vyper Squadrons. They can hit and run squads so they can take maximum advantage of their laser lances. Firing a volley in before assaulting usually wipes most squads out. You only run into problems if they fail to hit then run and get stuck in combat. I personally like turbo boosting them across the table and killing any manticore or other long range artillery that might give my advancing troops some trouble. Drawing lots of fire is ok when you have the unit fortuned and a +3 cover save thanks to the turbo boost.

Vypers have always been my favorite. I remember when they came out in the mid 90's. It really set the tone for the models that came later. Vyper squadrons are my favorite mobile heavy weapons support unit. You can give them a nice mix of weapons and upgrades and they are fast skimmers. My typical Vyper squadron consists of 3. Two armed with scatter lasers and one with a bright lance. This gives a good mix of anti infantry and anti tank. Though you have the option to give them holo-fields I would not do so. They are only armor 10 and are open topped so you would be essentially wasting 105 points. I would however arm them with shuriken cannons as the secondary weapon though. This allows for multiple weapon destroyed results and still gives you a decent heavy weapon in the event the turret weapon is destroyed, which it will be. You can also really lay into units if you only move 6 inches. My only complaint is of course the ballistic skill of 3. Oh how I long for Crystal targeting matrices. A well placed doom can make up for lack of hits though by maximizing wounds.

Vypers act like a fighter screen for the tanks and Wraithlords. They can't be ignored because of the weapons they carry. It forces your opponent to choose his shots wisely and split his fire. This is really important when you are out numbered and your opponent is maximized for heavy weapon spamming. The less he can concentrate fire the better.

So there's my two cents about Eldar Fast Attack. Next time we will tackle Elites. Before that though game 3 of the campaign and the “End Of days” Tournament this Saturday hosted by Evolution games and brought to us by the boys at Dark Future Games.

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

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

Say Hello to My Little Friend! Eldar Heavy Support.

Long range support and big guns are an essential part of an army list. The Heavy support choice provides your list with much needed killing power for both armor and infantry. The only trouble you really run into is that you are limited to three choices and you have several good ones. The Eldar codex itself has seven. Dark Reapers, Wraithlords, War Walkers, Support Platforms, Night Spinners, Falcons and Fire Prisms. It can be very hard to choose only 3 units at times.

As with most Eldar lists you have to choose the right tool for the job that will work in conjunction with the rest of the army. If you read the blog a lot you should notice a running theme. A mantra if you will of how to build and Eldar list. There must be balance and support. One unit has a job and supports the other units that cannot do that job or do not do it well.

If you look at the different choices in the heavy support section, or any of the different option sections, you will start to see the different units fill specific rolls and will excel in different situations. For Example, take the Falcon. The Falcon can be very well armed and has a transport capacity. Its weapons load out for the second turret weapon can be different depending on what roll you want it to fill. Outfitted with a scatter laser and its pulse laser it can be a support vehicle to assist a small unit of Dire Avengers hold an objective. Put a bright lance on it and you have a tank killer that can deliver anti tank troops close to the enemy. The falcon can be the focus or a unit taken to support the unit it is transporting. In this way it is like the ubiquitous Dire Avenger. It is a multi role lynch pin unit. It can provide fire support, tank busting, and transportation. In contrast the Fire Prism is a dedicated main battle tank. When used I conjunction with other Fire Prisms you can bust open pretty much anything. It can be used as an anti infantry unit though once the enemy armor is gone. Thanks to having the ability to fire in two different modes and the ability to combine beams the large blast mode can easily deal with massed troops, especially when you combine beams with another Fire Prism. Since this makes the tanks big targets it may be advisable to equip shuriken cannons to them for the inevitable main weapon destruction. Holo Fields also increase your chances of living. There is some utility, but the unit has a specific main function. Kill Tanks.

Night Spinners and support platforms fall under the artillery classification. Support platforms are actual artillery while night spinners are tanks that have a weapon that is basically long range support artillery. Units like these are best used to defend static locations. The night spinner can move and still fire so this works the best with a mobile force. I don't use either that often. When doing a planet strike mission or an Apocalypse game I use them heavily especially if I am defending. Distortion cannons are nice for denying heavy targets access to your position while vibro cannons can indiscriminately lay into any units. The night spinner basically replaces the Shadow Weaver support platform as the Weapon is better rules wise. Dark Reapers also kind of fall into the category as they need to sit back and pepper the opposing force from afar. Dark Reapers can kill light vehicles, or at least glance them to death. The Exarch can bring vehicles down but I tend to use Dark Reapers sparingly unless I know I am facing heavily armored foot troops, like my favorite genetically enhanced frat boys the space marines. Dark Reapers are best used for killing infantry. Decent strength and low AP means lost of dead troops. As always Guide and liberally Doom units for best effect.

Wraithlords and War Walkers are seen in a lot of my lists. I have never seen so much fear from an opponent, as when I field more than one Wraithlord. Blessed with high strength and a toughness of 8 Wraithlords are line breakers. Keeping them in close support of a Guardian unit or Seer council is best. This keep them close to a warlock for wraith sight tests. Always remember to have at least one Spirit Seer centrally located moving with the lords. I always make my Guardian unit Warlocks Spirit Seers if I am fielding Wraithlords. Wraithlords take a lot of fire and can dish out a lot of punishment. Most infantry units can't hurt it in close combat and most vehicles can't withstand an assault by it. Be wary of snipers though. Yes lascannons and melta guns can hurt them, but massed sniper fire can bring them down a lot quicker.

War Walkers are great for massed fire. The particular favorite is 3 all armed with scatter lasers. 24 strength 6 shots anybody. That spam aside arming them with a mix of scatter lasers and bright lances, maybe missile launchers, makes them a very flexible and deadly unit. Being able to outflank and use them as scouts is also a perk. I like to outflank them usually as they come in usually around turn 3 and lay into the rear guard of the enemy to great and devastating effect. They can support units already advanced up or take the heat off of them so they can advance.

So there you have it Heavy Support. So I think we will cover Fast attack Next time. Also I will be detailing plans for the next campaign game and the machinations of my partner and I for the End of Days Tournament that Dark Future Games is having on August 21^st at Evolution Games here in good old Lansing. Find details Here.

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

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

Second Raid...... I hope its a raid anyway.

Well I have another campaign game on Wednesday and this time it will be a full army instead of a 200 point patrol and raiding party. Samsquatch Monster has posted the details of the Scenario on Dark Future games, but to sum it up for the lazy who don't want to click the link I have 1500 points to work with. I can take up to 2 Heavy choices and 1 fast. Attackers can have up to 2 HQ's, up to 4 elites and 1-6 troops. Defenders can have up to 2 elites, 1 HQ and 2-6 Troops choices.

This was not a hard build for me honestly. Dark Eldar armies are pretty easy to build and the core of the force is always going to be Warrior squads, or I should say Raider Squads. 10 man squads with a dark lance and blaster are the way to go. If you have spare points a nicely equipped sybarite is a welcome edition but not a real necessity. Then you equip their Raider with a dark lance or dizzy, maybe a Horrorfex, and night shields and it is good to go. I have 4 raider squads in the defending list. I want as much on the board as possible as anything that is not a troop choice starts in reserve for the defenders. This way if my opponent is unlucky to have a quarter or half of his forces end up in reserve I can overwhelm him with fire and then pick off the units coming in from reserve. One thing I did do which I have not done yet is I have a warrior squad on foot equipped with lots of heavy weapons. This was to give my force an anchor and retreat point. I can station them in cover and pick off the major threats to my transports. This is a kill point game so I have to play smart as I have a ton of kill points in the force, 12 to be exact. I have 2 Ravagers and my Archon that will be in reserve if I am defending.

My attack list is a bit more aggressive. It is basically the same as the defending list but the troops are better equipped and I eliminated 2 warriors squads in favor of a wych squad on a raider. It is a mobile force that is meant to do what Dark Eldar do best. Blitzkrieg in and destroy everything they are not planning on taking. I am going to be working on an Archon conversion this week as I have discovered the beauty of giving him a Tormentor helm and Punisher as well as a combat drug dispenser. Strength 5 with a power weapon in close combat anybody? With initiative 7? Yeah its pretty nice especially when combined with a 2+ invo save thanks to the shadow field.. But nothing is to good for the leader of the Cabal of the Jade Dragon.

Hows the name? It came to me this week as I was contemplating the paint scheme already on the models and how I was going to either finish them or tweak the paint a bit so it suited my vision a little more.

So we will see how Wednesday goes. I will post the results and after battle report this weekend. I am also working on a post for session 2 of my Rogue Trader game. I should have that this weekend as well.

Until then.........

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

Remember to pillage before you burn: the new Bi-Weekly Campaign at Evolution games

So the local shop, good old Evolution Games, Started a campaign this past week. I should say Samsquatch monster of DFG started it but it is at our FLGS. I thought this would be an awesome opportunity to really get into my newly acquired Dark Eldar army.

SO the first mission is called Raid on Kastorel-Novem and it involves either attacking or defending a fuel depot. The fuel depot consists of two tanks with an armor value of 12. They are both equipped with void shields to fend off the first penetrating hit done to them. There is also a laser defense line that, if crossed, will cause a dangerous terrain test and wound the model crossing on a roll of a 6 in addition to the possibility of taking a wound from the dangerous terrain test. All the models are treated as independent entities. I have 200 points to work with. I am allowed to make 3 guys “specialists”. This means I get to assign them a universal special rule such as tank hunters. If you drop below half strength you must make leadership tests with a minus one per turn which is cumulative. So first turn at minus one, second turn below half strength at a minus two

My choices are limited to 1 elite, up to 2 troops and 1 fast attack. So my list consists of

7 Dark Eldar warriors on a raider with Night shields and “tank hunter”

One warrior with a Dark Lance with “relentless”

Sybarite with tormentor helm, punisher, gruesome talisman and shadow field. Has “furious charge”

All in all I did well. Despite losing my temper because my opponent was a daemon player who had the changeling in his list I won. I was actually a defender despite the Dark Eldar codex stating that they are always the attacker in a scenario. So I won despite all my anger. I slayed the daemons and saved the fuel depot. There was a post scenario showdown for bonus points and the Daemon player did succeed. This showdown consisted of one phase. attackers choice, and you pitted one model against another to represent the attempted assassination of a top commander surveying the battle field post battle. In this case he choose shooting. He had a shooty army and did not want to take on my sybarite in hand to hand. Sadly my sybarite's shadow field did not protect him and he died giving the daemons a small amount of payback and robbed total victory from my grasp.

I have not seen the next scenario yet but I know its 1500 points. So I will be fielding a scaled back version of the 1850 and 1750 list. I just have to figure out what I am cutting out. 250 points is a lot in a Dark Eldar list.

I will post about my list later in the week when I get the rules for the next scenario. Also I will be delving into troops choices for the Eldar. After the HQ slots it is the next most important choice, to make your list legal and set up the foundation to build your list further.

Until Then...................

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

Oh Captain My Captain: Eldar HQ's

I have always liked doing themes in my armies. I almost always build according to fluff even if its not tactically sound. Every army has a theme and a background. Personally I think that the choice of HQ sets the tone and theme of the army list. It really dictates what kind of units you are going to pick. The Eldar army has several HQ choices that are quite different. You have Farseers, Autarchs, Phoenix Lords and of course the Avatar. My first HQ choice is always a Farseer.

My Eldar are all painted and themed. They hail from Craftworld Ulthwe. As such I always use a Farseer, possibly two, and a large council of warlocks as well as lots of Guardians. Ulthwe is noted for its Seer Council and of course everybody's favorite special character Eldrad Ulthran.

The Farseer is really the capstone of an Eldar army themed or not. They are very formidable opponents especially with a retinue of warlocks. They bring to bear psychic powers that help your units and hinder the enemy. This is very different from the powers that most armies have. Most armies have all attack powers with a couple that may enhance or protect. Eldar powers, especially warlock powers, enhance and protect your units. The actual attack powers are very good. Mind War has fallen many troopers and enemy commanders. Eldritch storm is a nice one for lightly armored targets with the bonus of flipping vehicles around. Destructor, for the warlocks in the retinue, is a nice one for thinning out light infantry. Combine the psychic powers with the ability to cast multiple powers and make your opponents roll psychic tests on 3d6, thanks to Runes of Warding, and you have psychic dominance of the table. I prefer the blanket effect Runes of Warding has to psychic hoods, not to mention they cover the whole table. An entire unit with an invulnerable save and weapons that wound on a 2+ is also very nice against, well everybody. Most people do not expect your HQ to be a lethal tank killer either. Since Singing Spears and Witch Blades count as strength 9 versus vehicles it makes for a nice surprise when you pop them out near the tanks and let them tear them open.

I use Farseers in just about every list and I have a sizable retinue of warlocks no matter the points cost. This is mainly due to the fact they are the conductor of the symphony that is the Eldar army. They have lots of combat ability and buffing ability. If I don't use Eldrad I use a regular Farseer with Runes of witnessing and spirit stones. I always give him 3 powers. Fortune, Doom and Guide. If I know I am facing psykers then I also give him Runes of Warding. If I do use Eldrad a regular Farseer is secondary. I give him fortune and doom. I also like to put the second seer on a bike. This gets him closer and allows him to doom the units in the back field for your long range support units.

Sometimes I don't run two seers, but my first choice is always a Farseer as my primary HQ. If you have a lot of units being held in reserve an Autarch is a good choice if you want to get them in quick. You can stick him with different Aspect warrior squads with a nice mix of war gear from several of the Aspects. In most cases the Exarch powers with affect him. I use an Autarch with Swooping hawk wings and deep strike him with a unit of Hawks. This still allows use of his Master Strategist rule and its always nice to deep strike into the rear of a tank or artillery unit with a fusion gun.

I take the Avatar as a second choice when I need some heavy hitting. Since I like to use lots of Guardians, it is great to put him in between my two squads. Since he makes all units within 12 inches fearless I have a huge mass of troops that will not run and will continue to march forward until they are within catapult range. A squad of 15 or more Guardians laying into a squad or an individual is not pretty. My Guardians have fallen Trygons, Daemon Princes and even greater daemons from sheer weight of fire. It also Helps to have the Avatar there for any cleanup work.

I do not use Phoenix Lords a lot. I do have a themed infiltrator / deep striker list that uses Karandras with an Autarch as a secondary HQ and 30 striking scorpions, but other than that I do not run them that often. Although expensive they are worth every point. They make an Aspect Squad of the appropriate shrine very deadly. It would be nice if they did not take up and HQ slot and were an uber upgrade for the Aspect squad. With only 2 HQ slots its hard to pick one of them. This is why I tend to use them when I have a themed list. Karandras in the list above is one example. I use Maugan Ra with my Ulthwe army as a point of fluff. Since the Dark Reaper Aspect is the most populace on Ulthwe I like to use Dark Reapers a lot. Maugan Ra is always present in Apocalypse games.

So there you have it. The HQ choices and my two cents about them. I like themes. I have always believed the HQ slot to really set the theme of an army. Be it an Avatar and Phoenix lord lead army from Biel-Tan, to a Seer heavy army of Ulthwe. So next time we will have some battle reports from the campaign I am playing in at Evolution games that starts today and the army lists and possibly the results from the third round of the GW store tournament series that is this Saturday.

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

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

First Raid Approaches

I was working for Games Workshop just after 3^rd edition 40k hit the streets. The Dark Eldar were the new kids on the block and a lot of people picked them up as they came with the 3^rd edition boxed set. Then they kind of dropped them. The style of play needed to field them was not really the style that fit the rules set for 3^rd edition. At very least the whole concept of a mechanized fast moving force was merely a gleam in the eye. At the time I had switched from Eldar to Sisters of Battle as I had access to the play test codex and would send notes after games to the designers about how things did and problems we ran into. I had to use the codex rules out of the rulebook though as the play test codex was not for civilian eyes. I ran my sisters as a mechanized force and it proved very effective. I could not do that with my Eldar at the time due to no wave serpents, or at least I would have to mod up a bunch from scratch, and foot slogging was actually the way to go for anything you could not carry in a falcon.

Basically what I am getting at is that the whole mechanized army concept, being able to blitzkrieg the enemy, was appealing and This is what drew me initially to the dark Eldar. I can do a whole army mounted up in transports that provide good back up to the units. Sadly I did not purchase an army in 3^rd edition and I did not play the horror known as 4^th edition.

So I now find myself with a sizable Dark Eldar army. I plan on going to the dark side this week

I have two lists which are basically the same and are 1750 points, in case I want to use them in the third round of the GW tournament and 1850 points as this is the size we usually play at the store.

The list consists of At 1750 points

1x Archon with Agoniser, splinter pistol, Combat Drug Dispenser, Gruesome talisman, hell mask, trophy rack and shadow field, 4x warriors, 4 incubus and Drazaar Master of blades in a raider with Night Shields.

1x Wych Dracite with Agoniser, Splinter pistol, Combat Drug Dispenser, gruesome talisman, hell mask trophy rack Archangel of pain, witch retinue with succubus armed with Agoniser and splinter pistol, Gruesome Talisman, goblet of spite and a Mask of the Damned on a raider with night shields.

3x Warrior Raider squads

3x ravagers all with night shields and some disintegrators

The 1850 Point list adds a squad of 3x Reaver Jet Bikes with 2 blasters.

I am going to run this list Wednesday to see how they do. As you can see despite having a lot of point sunk into my two HQ units, which are the hardest hitting squads in the list, I am still able to field 3 troops choices to take and hold objectives. Despite the Raiders weak armor and open topped status they are excellent transports and pack a dark lance. This means they can act in support of the warrior squad holding an objective by eliminating armor units. The Ravagers act as back up killing artillery and tanks and then hitting troops with the disintegrators once they are out of their transports. Having faced this retinue before I can vouch for it lethality and ability to kill tough units. The wych Dracite and her wyches are also monsters. The Goblet of spite is key to this. It allows them to always hit on a 3+ regardless of weapon skill. Combine this with a 4+ invulnerable save in close combat and you will have even Hive Tyrants crying uncle.

I think this is a good balance between mobility and punch. The only thing is you must hit fast and hard on the first turn. Then you have to keep the momentum of the first strike up. You cannot get into a slug fest as the Dark Eldar are fragile. Lightly armored and toughness 3 means no stand up fights. Open topped armor 10 vehicles also means no dueling with tanks strait up. You have to be sneaky and use your terrain. Target priority is also important. You must decide what you are going to hit and hit it fast. There can't be any re-tasking mid strike. Its a merry dance of death and you must stick to the choreography.

So we will see how they do Wednesday. I think I am going to start doing some posts about the different units as I am sure many are totally unfamiliar with the Dark Kin. Also I will be doing some Posts about the Different choices available in the Eldar codex. I think I may start with HQ mainly because the HQ choice for your Eldar army sets the tone and theme of your army list.

Until then........

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

Lost in Translation

I have always enjoyed War games.  From Axis and Allies to Battle tech and eventually to 40k.  I always played with friends and if we had any issues with rules we always decided amongst ourselves how to solve any issues. When it came to tournaments though there were always judges to keep everybody on the level and to ensure people interpreted the rules consistently and above all the same way.
With the release of the much anticipated Blood Angels and Tyranid FAQ as well as the uproar caused by the ommission of a page from the Daemon Hunters Codex PDF I really wonder about the state of things.

The rules give us the means to play a game. They are there to provide balance and a clear manner in which to build strategy.  You and another player can enjoy a nice contest of strategy and tactics.  In theory anyways
Apparently people are getting creative in their interpretation of the rules. From Fire prisms still being able to contribute their beam despite a weapon destroyed result to Zoanthropes in a brood only needing one psychic test and don't even get me started on how some people interpret Necron "we'll be back" rules. Power gamers, munchkins, Beardy Gits have always been around but some of this stuff is getting out of hand.  This, to me anyways, seems like it is violating the spirit of the game.  Granted the FAQs solve rules questions but GW seems to be pretty lazy and inconsistent as of late when it comes to interpreting the rules.
Gav Thorpe Actually posted on his blog about this topic.  He wondered why Americans are so obsessed with getting rule questions clarified and third party judging of the rules.  This to me was light shed on how the GW guys across the pond think.  They speak of tournaments and campaign weekends.  They talk about how they solve their own issues and they don't understand the need for arbitration.  Gav actually went on to defend himself as a games designer saying "it was his job to eliminate any obvious abuses".  Basically somebody was calling out the design team about the loopholes people find to abuse the rules and make broken lists, IE Lash Sorcerers and daemon princes and the Allies rules that allow Imp guard to do the mystics trick.  Apparently the designers were shocked people would do this, but Gav downplayed any shock that was expressed by the design team.   I don't think the designers or writers have been out of the studio in the trenches as of late.  The tournament circuit seems a lot harsher here than in the UK so I had to ask.  Gav have you been on the forums lately?
There are weird and scary ways people are building lists and interpreting the rules.  I think a big portion of these people have lost touch and have gotten so competitive they forget we play this for fun.  The tournament circuit is pretty harsh and is above and beyond the level of cheese you may find at your local hobby store.
I play with a great group of players and we are competitive and do well, most of the time, when we play in a tournament.  In fact we had some nice team games today which included a nice BBQ out in front of the store thanks to Farseer Rerolls and Samsquanch Monster.  Much fun was had by all and we had some fun playing. You can't get so set to win you throw out the spirit of the game.

Ok rant over.  SO what do you think?  Rather than me preach and ramble on chime in give your two cents.
While you do that I will write up some more tactics articles and start writing about my new Dark Eldar.

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

BLOOD RUNS, ANGER RISES, DEATH WAKES, WAR CALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aspects of Khaine pt 7: Swooping Hawks

Here we are part 7 of the Aspects of Khaine. We are ending with the Aspect that apparently has fallen out of favor with the forum “experts” on Eldar tactics. I speak of course of the Swooping Hawks. The Hawk is a symbol of vengeance and retribution in the Eldar mythos and the Swooping Hawks deliver that with gusto.

The equipment of the Swooping hawk aides in the delivery of retribution upon your foes. The Lasblaster is the main weapon. With a range of 24” a strength of 3 and AP of 5 it is rather light on punch. It is assault 2 though which means a heavy weight of fire can be had with only 5 Hawks in the squad. With an AP of 5 Lasblasters can shred Imperial guard squads. This is especially true with a Farseer providing a doom and or guide to assist. The Swooping Hawk Grenade pack is their other weapon. This can deliver a large blast with a strength of 4 and AP of 5 that only scatters D6”. You can use this when you Deep strike your Hawks. They are also equipped with one of my favorite toys in the Eldar arsenal. Haywire Grenades. These grenades do not roll for armor penetration. You just roll and on a 2-5 you get a glancing hit and on a 6 a penetrating hit. Not bad especially when you combine it with one of the Exarchs powers that allows you to hit on a 4+ no matter how fast the vehicle went.

Combine all this with the fact they are jump infantry and you have a very mobile anti vehicle and anti troop unit.

The Exarch comes with a Lasblaster and may be given a power weapon. He can also select my favorite weapon the Sunrifle which has the same stats as a Lasblaster but is assault 6 and pinning. This ups your infantry shredding power and has the chance to pin the unit. The second option is the hawks talon which is assault 3 and ups the strength to 5. I prefer the Sunrifle as I tend to use Swooping hawks When I face lightly armored troops. Imperial Guard, Dark Eldar, Tyranids and Tau are all good targets either because of a toughness of 3 or an armor save of 5+.

The powers the Exarch has access to are Intercept which allows you to hit vehicles on a 4+ no matter how far they moved and Skyleap which allows you to pull the squad form the table and deep strike them back on with a successful reserve roll.. Intercept is a must. I do not like using skyleap. Although you can use the Grenade pack when you come back in you run the risk of not seeing your Hawks in the next turn. You also limit their mobility and leave them open to taking fire while they are all bunched up from the deep strike. I like having them stay on the table after their initial deep strike. They are mobile enough and have utility so it is kind of a waste to deep strike back in every other turn.

Using Swooping Hawks can be tricky. I use squads of at least 5 with an Exarch for a total of 6 in the unit. I give the Exarch a Sunrifle and Intercept. I use the unit to hit lightly armored units, like imperial guardsman or anything that is toughness 3 with a save of 5+, I try to have a Farseer in range to at least doom the unit I intend to fire at. I also hit the unit I intend to fire at with the template as I deep strike in. This concentrates the fire and helps open up some room to deep strike into. You have to be kind of ballsy when you deep strike the unit. You want them to be able to shoot at a unit but not leave them out in the open as they are vulnerable the turn they come in. The whole point of the deep strike is to get close and inflict damage. You must choose your spot carefully. Shock and awe can work to your advantage. I deep strike into the midst of the enemy. I do this for two reasons. One my opponent is not prepared and will misstep when it comes to fire discipline. Two if you place it right he may not risk blast weapons as they could drift into his own troops. Not to mention it may be within the minimum range of the heavy weapons on his tanks. It will force a break in formation as he is forced to move his tanks as you start inflicting damage the next turn. It could also force heavy weapon teams or troops to move to engage the interlopers. This allows the rest of your force to move in and lend support. Long range suppressing fire is key in the support of your deep strikers and out flankers.

When fighting against Mechanized forces most players expect fire prisms, Wraithlords or fire dragons for anti tank. You can use this to your advantage especially if you have these units in your army. If you move your hawks into position properly you can move in from 18 inches away to assault your opponents tanks. Many players don't expect this and it allows you to have your dedicated anti tank units take out other targets. You can use the hawks on high armor targets since you simple bypass the roll for Armour penetration. Even if you glance the living daylights out of a tank you will still hamper its ability to fight. Combine this with the fact you can take out vehicles moving fast you can really catch your opponent off guard.

So remember Swooping Hawks are an excellent troop shredding unit and are a very nice anti tank back up especially for moving vehicles.

So ends our series on the Aspects of Khaine. I hope they have been at least a bit informational. Its always nice to explore the options. Even if you have favorites you may find some new strategy you never thought of just by reading your codex. This has been educational for me.

So next time we will be trying some 1750 point lists for the 3^rd and final round of the GW Store tournament series which concludes, for me at least, on July 24^th at Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills Michigan.

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

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

Aspects of Khaine pt 6: Warp Spiders

Passing through the warp. Disappearing and reappearing behind the enemy. Bathing them in a shower of monofiliment wire. This aspect is not an aspect. Having more in common with the spiders that inhabit the infinity circuit hunting down rouge elements than the Bloody Handed God, the Warp Spiders are basically viewed as crazy by most Eldar. For who would willingly go into the realm of the Great Enemy.

Warp Spiders are A hit and run deep striking unit that can hit with massed fire and then jump away, using their warp packs, form the enemy to safety. The Death Spinner is a nice short range assault weapon that bring to bear some hefty fire power. At a strength of 6 it can wound most every kind of trooper on the field. Being Assault 2 brings weight of fire when you have a large unit that will force lots of saves. The Warp Jump Generator is an oddity. It allows the Warp Spider to basically teleport via the warp to a position 2d6 inches in any direction. If doubles are rolled you loose a spider to the warp. This mimics the Spiders of the Infinity circuits ability to meld with it and ride the currents to another location.

These pieces of equipment make the Warp Spiders a lethal hit and run shock troop that can devastate enemies in the back field. The Exarch powers are key to this. The Surprise assault power, which you should always take lets you deep strike the unit. The withdraw power lets them get out of combat if assaulted. Despite being able to arm the Exarch with power blades and double spinners, getting bogged down in combat is not a good idea. Spiders must be mobile to be effective. The second weapon option for the Exarch is nice. The spinneret rifle is strength 6 and AP 1. it is also a pinning weapon. Even though it is assault 1 if anybody dies they must make a pinning check. A failure could mean a quick death for the unit or a unmolested escape by the Warp Spiders.

Survivability is the key. And the key to this is keeping mobile. They do have a nice save of 3+, but you must keep the unit out of hand to hand so they can jump around and hit the enemy hard with their Death Spinners. Since the move like jump infantry and then get to use their jump packs in the assault phase you can keep out of the reach of assault troops and wipe them out before they reach your lines.

I like to use spiders to wreck havoc in the fire lines of armies that like to remain stationary. Jumping in behind troops and wiping out squads is a nice way to get the enemies attention and let your army advance.

Units of 5 or 6 can be very effective. I do like running units of 10 but only if terrain is light. You want to make sure you try and deep strike the unit within firing range of the unit you want to hit. After firing use the jump packs to get away. If you kept 9 to 10 inches away and then got a decent jump of 6 or 7 inches unless the unit is Calvary or jump infantry they will not be able to catch you to assault you and may not be able to get into rapid fire range. Try to jump behind terrain to give cover and obstruct line of site as this move is unaffected by terrain, including impassable. You can also try jumping behind other units so you force the unit you just shot to get into a hand to hand brawl with the unit of Striking Scorpions that is now in front of it.

Using hit and run tactics will help sow some confusion and break down fire discipline as your opponent tries to decide which is more important. Hitting the unit in his midst or shooting at the advancing army. As always you want to support the unit with long range fire power. Use your Dark Reapers or Prisms to help give a one two punch. Hitting the unit with Warp spiders thins the heard so to speak and allows you to hit units with you low AP weapons to get ride of special troopers rather than regular troops. As Always try and doom your targets to maximize the carnage. More wound means more saves and the more dice they have to roll the better.

So stay mobile and support your hit and run troops with long range support. Doom the enemy and use the terrain.

Our next installment will cover our last aspect. The ill used and often scoffed at winged avengers of Khaine. Swooping Hawks.

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

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