Adepticon 2022

 Hello all.  Its been a while.  I have been absent and for that I apoligize.  Hell I don't know if anybody still reads the blog.  Well after some thought I decided I am going to post at least once a month.  My gaming life has not been what it use to be.  I am hoping this changes next week and I feel a little of the passion come back.  I speak of Adepticon.  After two years on hiatus, the convention has returned.  I am participating in two events this year and I am helping to judge the Infinity GT.  I am brushing up on Infinity as I have not played the new edition.  I have only read the rules.  I plan on helping out none the less.  The gaming group here in Lansing has been experimenting with a bunch of different games and it has made us lose our focus on any one game. It's kind of frustrating honestly.  Its gotten to the point I am thinking about dipping back into 40K.  I know, thats kinda a point I thought I would never reach. We will see what happens.  I am going to try and do at least one post at Adepticon and might do a YouTube video on the channel I have not used in years.  If you are reading this I appreciate it.  I am going to get the passion back.  Life and past circumstances have left me burned out and honestly longing for days past.  Well thats all for now.  If you are reading this and are going to Adepticon, say hi if you see me. until next time.....

Remember Dramos! 

and

Blood runs, anger rises, death wakes, war calls !!!

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

One Does Not Simply Walk.........: Seerk's Take On Footdar Pt2

Continuing on the subject of Footdar that I started last time. Strategy and formation. Besides having a good mix of units, You need to have your army deployed to take advantage of the terrain and have clear lines of fire on priority targets. My standard Footdar list has 3 layers to it. This can be varied depending on the unit mix you choose to go with.

When deploying the army you layer it. The Avatar maintains a central position in the army. This maintains the fearlessness of a majority of your units as they walk forward into the breach. It also screens the Avatar. Granted his 3+ armor save and his 4+ invulnerably save keep him pretty safe, but its good to present a bigger number of targets to try and break down your opponents fire discipline. One real key is making sure you have a Seer within Fortune range. As the Avatar really is the lynch pin in the army you must ensure his safety. Although he eats up a lot of points I always Run Eldrad in my foot lists. Mainly because he can do the duty of two Farseers and he is harder to kill than a normal Farseer. You just have to make sure you have a concise plan and order of operations when casting your powers.

Now I spoke about layers. I have covered this topic before. Since the Eldar army is a collection of specialists they have to work in concert and mutually support each other. Besides two large squads of guardians I only run one maybe two Aspect warrior squads in the foot list. I use a medium sized squad of Pathfinders and a Squad of Dark Reapers in the backfield. This is your rear guard and the ranged firepower. Both should be set up in cover with good fields of vision. Since you have the Avatar centrally located with all your foot units orbiting around him, the army moves as a great mass forward. Its the rear guards job to clear the way and hit units trying to flank the main force. The dark reapers can tear thru small squads and transports. Its important to note that the Exarch should have the Crack shot power. Given most rhinos and transports surge forward and pop smoke or have some similar defense. You need to be able to pop said transport. Crack shot ignores saves derived from cover. I usually arm my Exarch with an Eldar Missile Launcher. It does not give you the saturation of the Tempest launcher, but it has more utility. Once a transport is opened up you can hit the unit with the Pathfinders to try and kill them outright or at least pin them. I also Use a pair of Night Spinners and put them out of harms way. Since they are twin linked you can use them indirectly with a fair amount of confidence. I will hit large concentrations of troops and vehicles trying to get the template to hit as many as possible so as to spread the love so to speak. This is more for suppressing units movement rather than killing. Granted since its a strength 6 rending large blast it will kill fairly effectively. I played OST this past week using the list and despite having to deal with 4 squads of plague marines the combined fire of the Dark Reapers, Pathfinders and Night Spinners kept his units suppressed and killed large numbers very quickly. Keeping the constant pressure on the opposing force makes them adjust their tactics.

When they are hurried they make mistakes, you just have to be able to see them and capitalize on them. With a lot of long range suppressing fire coming at them you can predict where units are going to go. If they have deep strikers or out flanking units you can almost ensure they will be going for the back field units. You can sweeten the pot by placing the pathfinders on an objective in cover. I prefer to place them and the objective in a building a floor or 2 up. Its a hard target for any shooting units to take out. You can cause a mishap or lure the units in with this trick. If you have warp spiders or a unit close they can take out the new intruders so you can keep the pressure on the main force. Thats the real key with the Back field units. They are there to keep the pressure on the main force. If you have no viable targets out in the kill corridor on the field then take out the units deep striking or out flanking into your turf.

Your Vanguard units are also there to put pressure onto the main force. I have chosen to screen this particular list with a vanguard unit of Harlequins. They move swiftly ahead of the guardians and the Seer council. The Seer Council hangs back behind the Avatar and the Guardians. I arm them with the customary fusion pistols and I give all of them Harlequin Kisses. Its an expensive unit that is put in a position that you would usually use an expendable unit in. This is another key. Everybody in the Army is Expendable. If you turtle up to much and guard specific units or models they will get more fire. IF you don't draw attention then the unit gets ignored in favor of the unit that is drawing the attention. The Internet has hyped up how nasty Harlequin units are. Granted they are pretty nasty, but not as nasty as a unit of Striking Scorpions or Howling Banshees. They just are much harder to hit and pack a punch in close combat. When your opponent has that bearing down on his units expect a torrent of fire to hit them. When this happens they are doing their job. They are screening the rest of your army and taking hits that could be hitting the Avatar, guardians or your long rang back field units.

If they survive direct them towards a soft unit. Their higher strength on the charge along with a high weapon skill and a rending weapon will be able to overwhelm a unit of 5 or 6 even if there is only a couple left thanks to their high number of attacks.

So some more tidbits about how I run Footdar. I may do another part as I think there is a lot to talk about yet when it comes to deployment. I will try and fire up a drawing program and come up with some sample deployments that I have done in the past. How you deploy your force is going to differ a lot based on the deployment type of the game.

Until then...

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!

One Does Not Simply Walk........:SeerK's Take On FootDar Pt1

Well its holiday time again. I apologize for the pause. I plowed through my finals and now I am free and clear, except for work, til the 16^th of January. I realized after my game with OST this past Wednesday that I have not actually had my Craftworlders out on the table in forever. I also realized I have not had an Eldar article in a while. I played OST's Deathwing at the FLGS This past week and I whipped out a good old fashioned Footdar list. It was very nice to hear the phrase “F#@*ing Eldar” ringing like a symphony in the store again.

The elusive Footdar list. Its a list that seemed to really go by the wayside in 5^th edition. Mech lists were the norm. As we get closer to 6^th edition the meta is changing once again and foot lists once again are making appearances. Mech lists and such are generally geared towards defeating other mech lists. The backlash from the excessive amount of mech was the reemergence of the foot list and horde armies.

I could go over a bunch of different Footdar lists and how they work and such, but each one if going to have key elements that are the same. These elements are what make the list work. It is a combination of key units, formation and strategy.

First we will look at the key units in a Footdar list, besides Eldrad or a Seer as you pretty mush always need one. The first and foremost, the lynchpin if you will, in a good Footdar list is The Avatar of Khaine. The Avatar is a very potent unit and a good deal at 155 points. Yes he takes up an HQ slot so you can't run two Farseers, but you get a lot of bang for your buck. Besides he potent combat ability The Avatar has his 12” Inspiring Presence aura. As you know any Eldar unit within 12 inches of the Avatar is fearless. This is important, especially if you are running hordes of Guardians. As the army advances you will get pounded by artillery and long range fire. I run big, 20 man, units of Guardians with a Warlock as my troops. The Warlock has Conceal for that 5+ cover save in the open, combine this with no leadership tests and you have a nice big mob to distract your opponent and solid squads who are not going to run from the field. The Avatar keep your units moving forward and really makes your opponent second guess his use of fire. This makes the Avatar a big target at the same time. You have to make sure you have your Seer in range to hit him with a Fortune. This should be easy as most of your units should have at least one member in orbit of The Avatar to ensure fearlessness. The real threat to the Avatar is Plasma. For the love of Khaine keep Plasma vets away from the avatar.

Picture By Tacticangle

Now this next unit I actually don't use much, but as I explore the Footdar again I am going to be using more. Harlequins. Harlequins, although expensive are an excellent advanced unit. The ignore difficult terrain and when you have a shadow seer in with the group are very hard to target. They can move as a screen ahead of the main force providing a better cover save. Giving them fusion pistols lets them crack armor and giving the unit Harlequins kisses gives them rending, on top of the Furious charge and hit & run. They are potent and thanks to months of playing dark Eldar I finally have a grasp on how to use them effectively.

Dark Reapers, in my view, are important components to a Footdar list. They are effective in taking out light armor and are very effective at killing power armor. They also prove valuable in killing light fast moving targets like venoms, raiders, ork truks, and space marine Land speeders. When you equip the Exarch with a Eldar Missile launcher and give him crack shot, the flat out move save becomes irrelevant . This can really hamper a meched up fast moving army. Dark Eldar are especially doomed if you crack open their transports and force them to hoof it. This also hurts webway portal delivery allowing you to contain the Dark Kin in a proverbial barrel.

Guardians are my mainstay for a Footdar list. They can be fielded in big units and Shuriken Catapult fire from a unit of 20, especially if they have been guided, has unit killing potential. I always include a Warlock with the Conceal power. This helps mitigate casualties as the blob marches forward. They can effectively hold objectives thru sheer numbers. The real key though is making sure the Avatar is close enough to keep them from running.

Warp Spiders are a quirky yet very effective unit. They are an advance force to really wreck some havoc in your opponents back field. Warp spiders are Eldar that are a little off. The whole concept of hurtling themselves through the warp is crazy talk to most Eldar. Not Warp Spiders. They have a screw loose, so you kind of need to play them like you have a screw loose. Deep Striking them in behind the soft rear ends of Imperial Guard artillery or any transports and blowing them really slows down your opponent and gives you time to bring your force up and deal the killing blows.

Night Spinners are another effective method for slowing down your opponent. I am a big fan of these guys. I will try and run two with a unit of Dark Reapers or one with 2 Units of Dark Reapers sitting in my back field to give my advancing force good suppressing fire and pop fast moving units. Since the monfiliment affects foot units and vehicles, and is strength 6, it is effective in slowing down and even damaging units.

One of my favorite things to use in a foot list is the support weapon Batteries. The one weapon I really like using is vibro cannons. In a battery of three they are strength 6. The auto glance vehicles and they hit everything in a line. Did I mention they also cause pinning This suppresses enemy fire and can really hamper foot units. A battery takes up a valuable heavy slot so I will use these if I am not using a night spinner. They can be interchangeable.

So my two cents about the units that are integral to a Footdar list. I will cover Strategy and formation in my next post as they go hand in hand. Time to break out some drawing programs.

Until Next time

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eldar Rumors

SO its far off and likely going to be in 6th edition, but there are some murmurs around the web.  Granted you have to take them with a grain of salt the size of a truck, but some sound cool and I know I would like to see them. I found this on Heresy Online.  The local "experts" did not give it much credit, but I found the forum monkeys generally just hate on everything. so here they are.

Eldar Rumors; Plastic Vampyre and Additional Aspects

Eldar are something I am sure that many people are waiting for any word on, so this little gem appeared. The highlight in my book is the 2 additional aspect warrior types and the plastic vampyre.


Please remember that these rumors are very early still, so please take with a some salt.

via RandomThoughts

Eldar Storm Guardians come in boxes of 8 with a min of 10...

response from ghost21
expect it to change(unit size); 8 to a squad min

via ghost21
plastic vampyre,
solitare,
dragon riders,
possibly exodite character
and 2 additional aspect warrior types

I think the plastic Vampyre is an viable option or even a super heavy tank of some sort.  Given the rumors that 6th edition will have super heavy rules as part of the main book, it makes sense to have at least 1 super heavy for the races that have vehicles of a decent cost in plastic.
Storm Guardians seem viable as a re-release but since they sell them now unless they are redesigning the guardian models it makes no sense.
I think additional Aspects can be assumed.  I would think Shadow Specters or 2 Aspects which share a new plastic kit would make sense from a model release perspective.
The Dragon riders and an Exodite character harken back to Rogue Trader and 2nd edition.  If GW wants to sell models we can expect new units and since we have not seen a lot of Exodites at all this I think is viable.  Also given the rumored focus 6th edition is going to have on the Eldar expanding on the race makes sense.
This would also lend some credence to the return of everbodys favorite 2nd edition killing machine the Harlequin Solitaire.  If its the end times I can see the Harlequins getting a face lift and the Solitaire being put back in.

So next time I will have an update about the Kabal Of Da Big Teef.  I have some pictures of my half done Battle Wagon and the 80% complete "TruK".  I have an Idea about doing some "Orkubi", we will see if I can make it work.

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

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We Are Ancient: The Eldar Are Showing Their Age

Well its bee a crazy week, thus my late week post. Work has been crazy and I had ASE testing this week, but I digress. I played in the “End Of Days” tournament last weekend at Evolution Games in Lansing. Sadly Vogrin and I were not at table one at the end of the tournament like last year, granted we won the last partners tournament so no big in retrospect. We went 1 and 2. We faced some some rather creative lists and unit combinations. My favorite was a Warboss and Nob deathstar flying into the fray in a Storm Raven by Craftworld Lansing’s newest contributor BigMek SkrapKlaw. Yes there was even a Def Dread in tow.

I am not writing about the tournament though. The tournament did get me thinking though, as did the release of the Necron Codex the same day. That thought was that the Eldar Codex is now the oldest. Before you start pointing out that the Tau or Dark Angels are older, remember they got an update in the FAQ that was quite substantial, especially in the case of the Dark Angels.

I was feeling the age of the Eldar codex in the tournament and while reading about the new atrocities the Necrons can unleash upon the battle field. Despite Eldar still doing decently well in tournaments across the world, I ask the Question, How much longer are they going to actually be competitive?.

I have been playing the Eldar for a long time, as long as I have been playing 40K in fact, and I have never seen them not be able to kick some major butt. The butt kicking is on a major decline, and victory is very costly anymore. Between the high point costs and nerfing of certain weapons and powers in 4^th edition I am dismayed by how much I have to work for a victory against a solid player, or even a mediocre player at this point.

Maybe I have grown use to winning consistently with the Dark Kin. The Dark Eldar have their faults, but they are a solid codex and very competitive. I can overcome the weak areas fairly easily. This is getting harder and harder with the Eldar. I am looking forward to 6^th edition purely for the fact the Eldar will be at the forefront. This and the return of Chaos. I know OST is looking forward to that.

So I think I am going to shelf the Craftworlders for a while as I contemplate their place and await 6h edition and a new codex. The Dark Kin are going to finally get the paint job they deserve. I think I am going to really start working on my Orks as well. I am now in no hurry. Financial issues have assured that I will not be playing in the GT at Adepticon. I will still get the army painted and ready just in case, but my focus will be on building a small force for the Team tournament as I have been asked to be an alternate on Team Deathstar. Samsquatch Monster, Lord Solar Steve and The Judge from DFG are 3 out of the 4 members. I am hoping to be the 4^th.

So I am finally going to build a Seer Council on bikes for my Deathstar. This will be a side project as I work to get the Dark Kin painted. Snow has finally hit the ground here in Michigan so its painting season.

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

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG! Craftworld Eldar Rumors

Well Fresh from BOLS and Stickmonkey we have our first official, I guess as official as rumors can be, Rumors for a new Eldar codex.  Of fourse as all other rumors are pointing to 6th edition soon this baby will be the first or second codex in the new addition.  It even 50% is true I will have to buy a bunch of new Eldar.  so here ya go.

Eldar mid to late 2012. Possibly 1st or 2nd official 6 ed codex

Guardians being redone. Will include new weapons platform and storm guardian bits.

Avatar getting new fine cast version with weapon options (spear/sword) not as big as FW model, but larger than current.

Lots of new mech options. Jump pack/jet options for walkers similar to new FW models, but unclear if this is new model or upgrade to current model. Upgrade packs don't seem likely, and current model is decent, so I have my doubts about this rumor completely.

New tank options...built on wave serpent/falcon chassis still. Hydra like flak turret, Bonuses against flyers and skimmers. Dcannon tank. And some pulse cannon monster tank...scorpion?

New jet bikes and vypers.

New warlock sculpts.

New aspect sculpts, aspects still likely fine cast.

Some sort of shimmershield device. Portable cover save for a unit, but static once deployed...model in design for it. Sounds fishy to me? But the de have the portal...who knows, I say unlikely.

From obvious dept comes the nightwing and some form of bomber. Neither look at all like de ships, or existing FW. Definitely eldar.

Drop pod of some sort that can carry 20 troops, 10 wraith guard, or 1 wraith lord. Deploys as firebase that has higher cover rating for guardians. Sounds like a bastion that drops into play with a weapons platform attached. Not sure I buy into this rumor completely, it seems too complex the way it's been described. And I never saw any evidence of this in design before.

Cheers. Still super long off, though. Have your salt handy. 


I like some of these.  The last one would be nice and really add a WTF factor to dealing with an army most players already don't know how to deal with.  SO what are your thoughts?



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

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

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!! 

Rider On The Storm: The Storm Guardian

I think the Guardian is one of the most underused units in the Eldar codex. The Storm Guardian even more so. Most people prefer the use of Pathfinders and Dire Avengers. Being that I like to use underused units I generally field Guardians in just about every Eldar list I put on the table. Not only is is in theme for my Ulthwe army, but people generally ignore them or try to at least. With the acquisition of a whole heap of Guardians, and I am looking for more, that were intended for Eldar pirate use when Imperial Armour 11 comes out, I find myself drawn to the Storm Guardian.

The only real difference in the load out is that the Guardians exchange their Shuriken Catapults for Shuriken Pistols and close combat weapons. You can also outfit the squad with a pair of assault weapons in the form of fusion guns or flamers. You can also add a Warlock. The Warlock is a key component to this squad. Armed with a Witch blade and the Enhance power all the members of the squad get a bump to Weapon skill and Initiative. SO your Guardians will be weapon skill 4 and initiative 5 with 3 attacks on the charge. Add in the massive amount of short ranged fire and a doom on the unit you are attacking and you can deal some damage. The number of models in the unit is important. I always field at least 15. this of course leads to statements of “but SeerK you can't put them in a Wave Serpent!” This is true but remember I play and Eldar army in layers.

The main problem people have in running footdar is that they get pummeled as they walk across the field and the units get eliminated either by fire or they run away. The usual solution for guardians is to put a character in the unit or give the Warlock with the unit Embolden for the re roll on failed leadership tests. Since the Warlock in this case has the enhance power you have to stick an HQ in with a unit. This is all well and good for one unit. SO whats the solution?

The solution is an integral piece to any footdar list. The Avatar of Khaine. The Avatar not only is a beast in combat, but his 12 inch bubble that makes any unit fearless that’s in range keeps those units moving forward. The real key is bubble wrapping the Avatar so that most of your units have at least one model within 12 inches. You then move to make way for the Avatar when combat is to be had.

You must remember to run every turn until you are in range. The Storm Guardians should be supported by artillery and advanced units such as Swooping hawks and Warp Spiders. This ties up the enemies guns as more pressing threats are closer. Concentrate your long range fire on transports to pop them open, but only after you have dealt with any long range artillery especially if ti uses blast templates.

The best thing to do is to hold up in cover until your deep striking units come in and are able to light up the enemy and allow you to advance.

Many of you would be tempted to give the Storm Guardians fusion guns, but it is a waste. The ballistic skill is not reliable enough to pop transports. The flamers are a much better choice. You can saturate units and soften them up before the charge.

I have always loved using guardians mostly because many opponents underestimate their effectiveness. Granted when you run them in units numbering 15 plus they can draw attention. The real key is drawing your opponents attention elsewhere.

SO next time I will be discussing the 10^th Foundation Of Vengeance.

Until next time.....

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