The Phoenix Court of Khaine pt 1: Asurman

He is the right hand of Asuryan. He is the the oldest and first amongst the Phoenix Lords. He is Asurman the Phoenix Lord of the Dire Avengers.

As you know Dire Avengers are probably my second favorite Aspect warrior temple. Asurman is a good all around HQ choice. Phoenix lords have a nice stat line, usually have all the associated Exarch powers plus an additional power. They are eternal warriors and have a 2+ save. Asurman has a 4+ invulnerably save which is a big thing as none of the other Phoenix Lords have an invulnerably save. I find this rather annoying but you learn to deal with it. Since Phoenix lords are fearless and make any squad they join of their aspect fearless, Asurman can really bolster a squad of Dire Avengers. A fearless troop unit is pretty nice when holding an objective.

Wargear wise Asurman has nothing to fancy. It seems fourth edition really killed weapons reflecting the fluff. There is a lot of counts as that is a bit lackluster for the points you pay in some cases. Asurmans' vambraces count as an Avenger shuriken catapult that is assault 4. His Dire Sword is still just a Dire Sword, albeit one that allows you to re-roll misses. The Phoenix Lord stat line is nice so you do get to have a very exceptional character. His BS of 7 gives Asurman a re-roll of 5+ for shooting. Clocking in at 230 points though is a little excessive in my opinion. There are a couple of different Phoenix Lords that are much better that are much cheaper. With HQ slots at a premium Asurman is not one I would take unless I was running a rather hefty force of Dire Avengers. 5 attacks on the charge in close combat with a 2 handed power weapon is nice with the ability to re-roll misses but, I hardly ever voluntarily charge my Dire Avengers into combat. They usually get charged. Dire Swords are also lackluster as is pretty easy to pass leadership tests anymore especially if you are a space marine.

All in all I would not use Asurman unless I was doing a theme list. He is to expensive and really just not worth blowing an HQ slot and 230 points. He will make a single squad of Dire Avengers very deadly as they hold the line. I generally still include an Exarch in squads with Phoenix Lords. I would definitely do this with Asurman as I would want a second power weapon and a Shimmer Shield in the squad for the 5+ invulnerably in close combat. You don't have to give the Exarch powers of course. It would be nice if you could take Phoenix lords as a squad upgrade that did not take up an HQ slot. Like Lemartes or one of the other dozen Imperial players get.

Kind of an unenthusiastic start I know. Honestly Asurman is not the best Phoenix lord. He is a mediocre choice for lots of points.

SO next time we will talk about a Phoenix Lord that is worth the points. The Bringer of Death. The harbinger of doom. Maugan Ra the Phoenix Lord of the Dark Reapers. I also have a battle report for the latest round of the store campaign. The Judge and I went head to head again. I lost, but managed to get some payback. So that battle report is in the pipe for later.

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

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

Battle Report: Eldar vs Orks

This past Wednesday I got a game in at good old Evolution Games.  It was also our first bits trading night.  I got a lot of good bits and have given into my temptation to start another army.  I will post some picks in the coming weeks of my new Blood Angels projects.  I know, why mon keigh? I like to paint and Blood Angles is a classic.  Plus gives me time to study the enemy and his ways.  Despite the bits frenzy I got to face one of the regular greenskin players in a Capture and Control spear hear set up game.
I used the round two revision of my GW Store Tourney series list that I was going to be using at said tournament on June 19th.  I found out I will be facing the Imperial Guard so I may change the list to adapt to this new found knowledge. The current incarnation of the list consists of;

Eldrad Ulthran
4x Warlocks.  Two with Singing spears.  Embolden, Enhance, destructor x2
The Avatar
1x Squad of 10 scouts upgraded to pathfinders
1x Squad of 10 Dire Avengers with Exarch.  Exarch has bladestorm Dire Sword and shuriken pistol
1x Squad of 5 Dark Reapers with Exarch.  Exarch has Crack Shot and a Tempest Launcher.
1x Squad of 5 Shining Spears with Exarch.  Exarch has Hit and run skilled rider armed with Star Lance
1x Squad of 10 Striking Scorpions with Exarch.  Exarch has Shawdow Strike, Stalker and biting blade
1x Fire Prism with Holo Fields and Spirit Stones.

The ork horde had one big mob of lootas, two huge mobs of boys in battle wagons, a warboss with a nice big mob of nobs in a truck, a def dread and 2 small flights of death coptas, One and two.

We had lots of terrain and to my dismay I did not get first turn.  After setting up and infiltrating my pathfinders the death coptas used their scout moves to get into firing position of the Fire Prism and the Pathfinders.  Turn one saw the destruction of the Fire prism despite the Holo Feilds, rolled a 5 and a 6 on the dice , and the pathfinders taking fire and then loosing the assault they were forced into by the death coptas.  They ran off the table.  The dire Avengers were holding my objective and stayed put while Eldrad and his Warlocks moved up with the Avatar.  The shining spear advanced as well in support on the flank.  The Striking Scorpions were in reserve doing an out flank.  The Dark reapers punished the loota  mob which despite loosing more than half its number did not run.  The battle wagons advanced on the objective while the warboss and his nobs cut off  Eldrad and the Avatar.  Once they got in range they put the truck between themselves and the big boys and assaulted the shining spears instead of Eldrad and the Avatar.  The Shining Spears were slaughtered.  The Avatar only manged to immobilize the truck. 
Things got bloody quick.  I was not rolling well at all.  The warboss and his nobs killed Eldrad and his warlocks after 2 rounds and then finally managed to off the Avatar ofter 3 rounds of combat.  The death coptas were a thorn in my side.  I did dispatch the lootas and two coptas but the remaining copta and the large mob in one of the battle wagons finished off the Dark Reapers.  I was down to one squad.

As i have said Dire Avengers can hold objective like no other.  When faced with the green tide in turn 6 they braced and blade stormed the nearest mob and cut it down to about 25% of its full size.  This took enough out to make sure they did not have range to assault me.  The game then Ended with me as the victor.  I held my objective and he did nto have anybody claiming his.

A victory for Craftworld Ulthwe but at what a cost.  If the game had gone to turn 7 I would have been done for.  The Dire Avengers Held off the tide despite heavy losses and managed to pull thru.
This list is going to be drastically changed for facing Imperial Guard at the GW Store Tourney.  I did nto do bad.  I had massive losses and still won.  I managed to keep the Orcs focused on what they like.  Shootin stuff and assualting.  Once I lost the Ability to effectively disable the battle wagons I had to change tactics to keeping the orcs at bay and slow them down so they could not reach the objective.  That means sacrificing troops and going all or nothing into that strategy.  It paid off but it was a major gamble.  If it had gone into turn 7 it would have been a very different outcome.

It was a good learning experience.  I have not fought Orcs in a long time and it was good to get a taste of something not wearing power armor.  So guess we will see what Saturday holds as I try a new list and see what I can do against some Imperial Guard.  Unitl Then........

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

Aspects of Khaine part 1: Dire Avengers

The Troops choice is two of the required choices in a standard force organization chart. The Eldar list has five different choices two of which are Guardians, three if you get technical. The Dire Avenger is One such choice. As the most common of the Aspect temples I will begin the series on Aspect Warriors with them.

The Squad consists of between 5 and 10 warriors for 16 points each. Armed with the Avenger shuriken catapult, a 4+ armor save and a ballistic skill of 4 they are worth every point. The range on the Avenger catapult is 18”, so you have some breathing room in a fight as opposed to guardians with their 12” range. You can still move and keep rapid fire units moving or at very least limiting the number of shots they get at the unit. High initiative, which all Eldar have, means they get to strike first in most combats with regular troopers. This is where the handicap of a strength of 3 comes in as well as no option for plasma grenades.

It is obvious the Dire Avenger is a troop type meant for shooting and doing hand to hand if forced into it. Many question why the Exarch has some of the war gear options that he has. You can take a power weapon and shimmer shield or a Dire Sword and shuriken pistol or two Avenger shuriken catapults. The last one makes sense if you are going all shooty as does the Exarch power Blade Storm. This gives everybody in the squad an extra shot. I know around Lansing the Blade Storm is much feared and lamented by those with lightly armored troops. The weight of fire it provides is also a threat to tougher targets. The odds are in your favor when you are rolling 30 dice to hit, especially when the Farseer is doing his job. The Power weapon and shimmer shield are probably the best option of Exarch war gear in my opinion. Here is why.

When you outfit your Exarch with the power weapon and shimmer shield as well as the defend power you enhance the survivability of your squad against assaults. The current mood of 40K is to get close and in the face of your enemy quickly. That said you can expect a unit capable of inflicting lots of shooting casualties to draw the attention of the close combat specialists. By using the shimmer shield power weapon combo you give everybody in the squad a 5+ invulnerable save, better than nothing when power weapons are concerned, and the high initiative and weapon skill of 5 from the Exarch ensures some possible deaths before the attacks hit the squad. The defend power reduces the number of attacks for the enemy by one. This further adds to survivability. I use this combination when I assign the Avengers to hold an objective. It also works in non objective games by letting the Dire Avengers bring up the rear behind troops with shorter ranges. They can still fire over the units and this allows them to shield units from being assaulted.

When you give them a Wave Serpent you have a very mobile objective holder. You must keep the Wave Serpent in a close support role though. The key to tactics in an Eldar army is very unit working in concert. You have very specialized troops that are basically good at one thing. They must be supported by the other units to survive. The Dire Avengers are that unit. They are a utility unit amongst an army or specialists. They do have weaknesses though.

The “weakness” most players lament is the toughness of 3. There are at least 3 other armies which also have this “weakness”. This is the average. The strength of 3 is also viewed as a weakness. Again this is the average. Not everything can be toughness 4 strength 4.

Fire discipline and the effective use of Seer powers in important. Pick targets carefully and coordinate your fire. Excessive use of Doom and Guide is recommended.

Dire Avengers are an Excellent troop choice as they are a utility unit that can support the other aspects and at the same time rack up the kills and hold the objectives.

Next time we will be covering my favorite aspect.......Striking Scorpions

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

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