Close Combat: Round Two

Last time I spoke a little about close combat with the Eldar. Namely I spoke about target selection and keeping your troops in transports. I want to touch on alternate methods of deployment and equipping your units to deal with different situations. I also have been thinking about some different unit mixes in order to increase survivability and killing power. So lets look at deployment.

Deployment

Some Eldar close combat geared units have varied methods deployment. Striking Scorpions and Mandrakes have the Infiltrate ability. This gives you the option of holding them in reserve and out flanking or you can place them well ahead of the army. This gives you some utility. It allows you to deploy differently depending on situation. Rather than your Wyches or Howling Banshees just sitting on a transport and deploying with the rest of the army or floating onto the board, these other units allow you to harass the enemy or at very least draw their fire away and force them to deal with the unit in close proximity. The Dark Eldar have two deployment options that their Craftworld cousins do not currently have access to. The first is the Webway Portal. Archons and Haemonculi have access to this piece of wargear. As you know you deploy the Webway portal and all units in reserve may enter the table from the Webway Portal as if it was your table edge. The only real trick is getting the thing deployed in a good position before you start rolling for reserves. You also can't bring vehicles in so your units will be exposed. This is why placement is crucial. If you deploy it to far away you will expose your wych units to fire which they cannot weather.

I am not a fan of webway deployment personally as you cannot reliably get the thing where you want it by the end of turn 1. I do like deep striking via retro fire jets. You have to do this carefully though as you can't get out and assault another unit with your wyches when you deep strike.

I am going to talk about Mandrakes next time as I think the unit gets a bad reputation and I am determined to take it back.

Unit Mix

What you equip your Wych Squads with and who you attach to the squad can make a big difference in its survivability and killing power. I always include a Hekatrix with an Agoniser and Phantasm Grenade launcher. This cuts down on attacks the enemy gets when you get charged and gives you a power weapon that will always wound on a 4+. I also like to give the squad Haywire grenades. This is to deal with dreadnoughts and hit vehicles. This can be a risky proposition though with only a 6+ save. I like to include shard nets and impalers in the unit as well. I will mix it up sometimes and go for a razor flail as well. The razor flail is nice because of all the re rolls. It gives you a little more killing potential. Some people like to include a Haemonculus in the unit. Although this does give you a pain token right off the bat you have to separate the Haemonculus from the unit for it to be fleet. If they are crammed in a Raider you also only have 9 in the squad which means only one special weapon. I also don't like the extra squishy kill point just kind of floating around. 50+ points is kind of a lot to pay for a pain token. If you are adding any Independent Characters to the unit make sure they add something. Make sure they are also fleet. Adding a succubus or Archon to a unit increases the killing power by quit a bit. They can also benefit from the combat drugs.

I also have one quick tip that many people overlook. Two actually. The first is for the love of God shoot the unit with your splinter pistols if you are close enough to still charge. People either forget to shoot or they shoot when they are barely in range for the charge. If you don't have to run and can still make it if casualties are moderate from shooting then shoot. Smart players will pull models form the direction they are getting charged. You can avoid this little maneuver by making sure your unit is in good position. If you have the leader of the unit or a special weapon as the closest model many players are not willing to sacrifice the power fist to save the whole unit. Make sure your Special weapons and Hekatrix are up front so they get to use all their weapons and attacks. The second thing is take casualties from the back. You will get shot at. Don't let casualties cut your charge short. Wyches are at home in close combat so send them to their home as quickly as possible and keep them there. One thing though. Try not to get the last pain token if you can help it. A fearless wych unit is very bad in a quagmire combat. You will loose the unit to attrition very quickly with only a 6+ armor save. FNP can help, but don't rely on it.

Well next time I am going to talk about a very misunderstood and ill used unit. Mandrakes are the red headed step children of the Dark Eldar Codex. I think its time I took a long hard look at them and see if they are as bad as everybody in the inter webs claims they are. I think they have their uses and can be quite lethal if used correctly.

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

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

Lets Get Up Close and Personal: Close combat

I have been contemplating some things. After my recent games VS Papa Nurgle and Old School Terminator I have been really contemplating close combat. My Dark Eldar lists have been leaning towards wych cult as of late. This means lots of close combat. The obvious weakness inherent to Eldar is the fact they are only strength 3 base. Barring weapons that increase strength the Eldar always wound on a 5 or 6.

The Craftworlders can deal with this handicap, usually only really a handicap vs high toughness critters or space marines, by using Doom rather liberally and choosing your targets carefully. Careful target selection is very essential for squads of Wychs and Hekatrix Blood brides. You have some staying power thanks to high initiative and an array of weapons. The 4+ invulnerably is also nice. The problem lies in going more than 3 rounds of combat. This is especially true if you have no pain tokens.

I ran into this problem when I was mired down by plague bearers. Toughness 5 is pretty rough when you are only strength 3. So in response to my recent games I have really looked at close combat strategy with my wyches.

Choosing Targets

You must be very selective about the units you assault. Running a whole squad into a big bad because you have an agonizer does not make sense unless you know for a fact you can deal enough wounds to kill said big bad with extreme prejudice. I am guilty of this myself. You really have to stop and think, is this worth possibly giving up a unit? This is doubly true if its a scoring unit. Everybody knows I am stickler for kill points. I like to minimize them to a bare minimum and still have a very functional list. Getting into combats that have little chance of success is basically like handing a kill point to your opponent.

You must be aware of your surroundings. Try and look at things a turn ahead and predict what you opponent will do. If you have a nice soft unit to assault look at what is near it. Hitting a squishy unit of termagants is all well and good until you realize there is a winged Hive Tyrant within reach of the squad. You also have to look at the terrain. Hitting units close to terrain can be very advantageous as you have cover to consolidate to. Wychs only have a 6+ armor save so you better consider where they are ending up after a combat. Nothing sucks worse that loosing a whole squad to rapid fire because you were not thinking and out of position.

Transports

Unless you are jump infantry, transports are essential. Dark Eldar have an advantage, one of the few with open topped vehicles, that they can move 12 inches and still jump out and assault. With the 2 inch deploy and the 6 inch charge this means a squad of wychs can get into combat with an enemy unit that is within 20 inches. Not to bad especially since this is conservative given the variability of a run move. This also includes Incubi kids given that they are fleet now. Since 5^th edition is all about mechanized forces, which is funny to me considering I have played mechanized armies in every edition, You have to have your close combat units in a transport. They will get shredded otherwise.

For my wych Raider I like to really out fit them. I give them Torment grenade launcher and Grisly Trophys and keep the Raider within 6 to bolster the unit. The -1 leadership to the enemy and a re roll on failed leadership is nice. I also give them Flicker fields and Night shields to help get them to where they need to go. Enhanced Aether sails are not a great option though as they cannot disembark in the same turn you use them. SO this gives the enemy time to light you up with the big guns.

You can obviously use the raider to pop any potential targets as well with the dark lance. I personally like to give the wych Raiders Dizzy's. This helps you thin the heard a bit. Strength 5 AP 2 is nice to clear out some of the ablative wounds in a squad so the Wychs attacks are spread on less targets. This is also one of the reasons why I only run 2 Dark Lances on My Ravagers. Its a trade off for a mix of anti tank and anti infantry.

OK so this was a good start. I have some more thoughts to gather on the subject. I am in the process of moving and transferring to a new job so things are a bit hectic. I also promised a video blog, but alas the camera did something funky and it was not useable. So I have to try again. Next time more close combat talk and I start to pimp my tournament in March.

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

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