The Lists From Adepticon!

Greetings all.  SeerK here with another after report from Adepticon 2016.  This time we are bringing you the top 5 lists from The Schaumburg Prime Offensive.  We had Aquans in the top three spots this year.  This was a major change from last year, as we had no Aquans in the field in the inaugural tournament.  This year we upped the points from 900 to 1000.  We are looking at the data, the feedback from the players and  feedback from the community at large to evaluate what effects this had on the tournament if any.  Initial discussions and data is pointing to possibly going down to 900 points.  This of course does not take into account the new Task Force ships or the new fleet entries for them.  The Task Force ships as escort vessels is also a factor that will come into play.

I plan on talking about the Task Force vessels in FSA more in depth once the rules are 90% stable and I get the chance to play with them a lot more.  The new escort rules, especially with the Relthoza, really change things for me.  I have many more tools and avenues in my fleet construction.  I digress though.  Lets take a look at the lists!

Its The Final Countdown: "The List" And The End of 2010

My original intent when I designed “The List” was to play a themed list in a tournament and win. This is proving to be very difficult. I have to sit and think. To be a douche or not be a douche? Do I continue to try and develop “The List” in its current form and see how far I get in the GT at Adepticon? Do I throw on a polo, pop the collar and give in and design a real douchey list that will not make any friends. Do I go halfway. Thats what has been on my mind since I played Old School Terminator week before this past week.

The Game vs his Tyranids started out rather well. I was up on kill points until turn 4 and he quickly made them up and shot ahead. We have gone back and fourth in games, but this was a pretty sound beating. The Doom of Malan'tai was a beast and ate hearty on my guardians. They were out in the open and unprotected. As were the Vibrocannons. Old School also learned from past experience and got nowhere near Eldrad and his coterie of Warlocks. I was able to kill only one Trygon Prime and injure the others with Mind War until the moved out of range. Old School is trying to convince me to pop the collar and go to the dark side, not literally as in Dark Eldar as appealing as it sounds now.

So I stand with 1 win out of 5 games. Not great at all. I have designed a list that I view as a tournament douche list and I intend to play it soon. I feel kind of dirty doing it, but I guess I have to try it and see how it does in comparison. I am going to go all out and run the duel bike council. I also designed a less beardy list where I finally use one of my Autarchs to get my reserves in when I want them and do some solo anti tank work. I have some work to do as I must finalize a list to give myself time to buy models if need be and modify my existing ones so the are WYSWYG.

In other news I have completed my first squad of Kabalite Warriors. They have been built to be A squad of Trueborns. They will be going to paint this weekend along with their raider. I have also completed a very simple mod for my Duke Sliscus. I will be doing a Mod for Baron Sathonyx once I pick up a box of Hellions in a couple weeks. I really like all the bits you get with the dark Eldar kits. It makes kit bashing so much easier.

This year has been quite eventful. I started the blog this past April, We have seen some very nice codex's come out, namely the Dark Eldar. Tournaments have come and gone and we have a new year of them to look forward to. We have also seen the 3^rd party miniature market take off. Companies Like Chapter House Studios, Paulson Games and the like have been churning out great mod parts and miniatures to fill in the gaps GW likes to leave. It is very sad that GW is now suing them for IP infringement. Looks like I have to put in a Chapter house order very very soon.

I have had a great year and I look forward to 2011. I hope to bring you more on the blog. More tactics and more crunch rather than me just blowing hot air. I also have some other stuff I am trying to get going. Namely a weekly pod cast or at very least a nice round table of the Lansing area bloggers and hobbyists.

I would also like to announce that this March I will be running a Tournament. This 1850 Rogue Trader style event will take place at our FLGS Evolution Games. I will have more details as I work them out, but I am hoping for a good showing and to have some nice prizes.

Well 2010 has been a blast and I look forward to 2011.  See you next year.

Until then........

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

Battle Report: "The List" vs Mech Guard

This past Wednesday I got a chance to test “The List” against one of our FLGS's regulars. Deus is usually known for his very nicely painted Dark Angels force. I have tangled with the hunters of the fallen on a couple different occasions. Both times they gave me a run for my money. This time I squared off against his Imperial Guard army which has not been in the shop as of yet. This Mech Guard army was a sight to behold. Nice lines of Chimeras with a Devil Dog and 2 Leman Russ battle tanks. Supported by a Hydra flak battery. I brought “The List” . This incarnation dropped the Avatar and a Fire Prism in favor of a squadron of Vyper bikes and a support battery of Vibrocannons.

We played a traditional pitched battle for objectives.

I placed my two objectives with in reach of my two guardian squads. The Vibrocannons set up next near the objective I placed in the corner. The Fire Prism set up in the middle of my deployment zone while the Vypers set up to have a go at flank of the army. Deus Set up a nice gun line of chimeras supported by the Leman Russ's. The Devil Dog was going to come up the flank to take my corner objective supported by the company command squad. The Hydras set up in the opposite corner of my Vibrocannons. Deus Seized the Initiative so I redeployed using Eldrads ability to do so. I repositioned he and his squad so I could rush the solid line of Chimeras and mortar team set up near them in cover. I also repositioned the Vypers to hit the Hydra Batteries as long as they survived. If not I still had a Bike squad and War Walker squadron in reserve.

Turn 1

The first turn saw me take a hellish amount of fire, most of which was concentrated on Eldrads Wave Serpent. It only resulted in a shaken result though thanks to Spirit Stones (spirit stones reduce stunned results to shaken for those of you not familiar with the Eldar codex) I lost a couple of Guardians and the Fire Prism. The Vypers took fire but only one took any damage. Thank the maker it was only a stunned result. I advanced my army in my turn one. Eldrad and his Warlocks moved flat out in their wave serpent towards the gun line. The Vibrocannons and Guardian squad did not move while Guardian squad 2 moved towards some area terrain stretching out their numbers to stay within 3 inches of the objective they were holding. The Vypers and Vibrocannons opened fire. The Vibrocannons stunned the Devil Dog and the Company Command's Chimera.

Turn 2

The Guard Advanced trying to encircle Eldrad. They opened fire pouring tons of fire into Eldrads Wave Serpent, this time doing nothing. The mortars caused one of the guardian units to break and some of their number went down in a hail of shells. The Vyper Squadron was also cut down to one Vyper armed only with its under slung shuriken cannon. In my turn two the War Walkers came strolling in on the board edge closest to the Hydra Flak tanks. The Vyper Retreated while the second Guardian squad advanced. Eldrad and his coterie of Warlocks disembarked. The Vibrocannons opened up stunning a Chimera and a Leman Russ. The War Walkers laid to waste the Hydras with concentrated missile and scatter laser fire. In the assault phase Eldrad and his boys destroyed 3 chimeras and most of the Guardsman they contained. The Wave Serpent opened fire killing some mortars but their resolve held.

Turn 3

Turn 3 saw some very bloody combat. The Guard commanders opened up with everything they had on Eldrad heedless of the safety of their own men. Warlocks were lost. Guardians were also lost as the mortars continued their relentless barrage. The amount of fire was reduced due to damage sustained form the previous turn. In my turn the Guardians rallied and marched forward. The War walkers continued their march across the flank laying into some guard squads now freed of their transports. The Vibrocannons stunned the same Chimera and Leman Russ this time removing a weapon from the Chimera. Eldrad and his warlocks shot up two squads of guard than ks to a well placed Destructor. They then multi assaulted the Guardsman and a Leman Russ wiping out both squads and destroying the tank. The Devil dog has suffered a weapon destroyed result on the melta cannon early on. It was close enough for the Guardian squad next to the vibro cannons to glace it to an immobilized and a second weapon destroyed result.

Turn 4

The Guards resolve was still holding. The advanced despite losses. The mortars continued to pound the Guardians. The lone Leman Russ backed as it was only stunned. The Master of Ordnance who finally was able to fire last turn continued the barrage which claimed the lives of several Warlocks. The Guard began to draw in and consolidate. They held one objective very tenaciously. The Bike Squad came in on my turn and rushed towards the lone objective held by the guard. Eldrad separated from the lone remaining warlock to help the embattled Guardian unit that had been charged by a sentinel. The Warlock took out the remaining mortar team closest to him and advanced on the remaining Leman Russ. Eldrad charged a Chimera between him and the Embattled Guardian unit. He only manged to make it unable to move and shoot. This was good as it was moving towards one of my objectives. The remaining Vyper had moved to support the Bike squad. The war walkers popped the Chimera that had moved to support the 3 Guardsman holding on to their lone objective.

Turn 5

The Guard now redoubled their efforts. The Vibrocannon battery took major fire and retreated from the board The bikes also took 2 casualties as they were lit up by las cannon and mortar fire. The Leman Russ moved back away from the warlock and in support of the last mortar team. The bikes moved in to finish off the Guard Unit holding the objective. The war walkers moved into engage the Leman Russ. After that killed off the occupants of the Chimera they had destroyed in the previous turn. Eldrad and The guardian squad moved towards the now unstunned Chimera that had plans to tank shock due to its inability to fire. In the assault phase the Guard Squad was forcibly removed for their transport.

Turn 6&7

The Guard was now on the ropes The Leman Russ attempted to tank shock the Warlock after an assault from the war walkers failed to kill it. The Guardsman pinned form their vehicle being destroyed were told to get back in the fight by the company commander and they opened fire and then assaulted the Guardians on my corner objective. The Guardians broke in the face of the assault and were cut down. The Bike squad had claimed the Imperial objective and the War Walkers destroyed the remaining Leman Russ as the Warlock was finishing off the last Mortar team. The last Guardian unit moved to the second objective they had moved off from to claim it once more. Eldrad moved to kill the Guard unit holding my previously held objective. He failed to make the distance in a charge.

The game ended with me holding two objectives to his one. He had 2 Guardsman and the Company Command Squad in their Chimera left in the end. I am very happy with how “The List” did in this version. The Vibrocannons proved to be very valuable since they auto glace vehicles and only one of them has to hit for them to be effective. I am not pleased with the Vyper and Fire Prism though and these elements may be changed. I may actually add a squad of Aspect Warriors. Some Dark Reapers would have been very helpful. A Night Spinner would have been nice as well. So we will see what I decide on. Next time I will cover my 1850 “Freak Show” List and also my new Combined force of Duke Sliscus and Baron Sathonyx.

Until then

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

The Road To Adpeticon: "The List" Gets a Tune Up

Well I have to say I am excited. I received my old school Eldar battle force yesterday that I found on eBay. You know the one actually worth the retail price. 3 jet bikes, 20 guardians, a Vyper and a Falcon for $70 bucks. Not a bad deal. I also discovered that the new Dark Eldar codex is now in Army Builder. Lastly I revamped “The List” and it turned out more themed and I think harder hitting and functional. I am looking forward to testing it on Wednesday.

The units I removed really changed the feel of the list after I added their replacements. I removed the Avatar and a fire prism. I added in a squadron of Vypers and changed the weapon load out on the War Walkers. I also added in a bit of artillery in the form of Vibrocannons. I decided after loosing an objective game because my guardian squad was wiped out by drop pod delivered dreadnoughts I needed a better defense for the objective, to back up the Guardian squad holding it. I may change to Distortion cannons depending how well the Vibrocannons do. I have actually never used them before and many Eldar players don't use them let alone stationary artillery. I opted for the Vibrocannons because of their range and because of their ability to hit multiple units. They are also a pinning weapon so any chance to pin a unit is good. Distortion cannons are way more devastating, but have a much shorter range and make themselves a target quicker. Being AP 2 and always wounding on a 2+ with instant death on a 6+ always seems to make opponents nervous especially when they are small blast barrage weapons, go figure.

It really is a hard choice given the nature of most lists I may face. Deep striking drop pod lists make range irrelevant so the Distortion cannons are a better choice. Armies keeping their distance and with swarms of troops make Vibrocannons better especially since they auto glace vehicles. Neither may work and I may just stick a Night Spinner in.

I swapped out the bright lances on the war walkers for missile launchers and the bright lances on the loan wave serpent for missile launchers as well. Granted this removes my lance weapons but I still have enough anti armor in my opinion. SO the great experiment continues. I hope to get a game in with the new list tomorrow.

Later this week I will be discussing a Dark Eldar character that I plan on adding to a modified version of my Duke Sliscus list. I have been experimenting with units and character and I thought its time for a unit I never even used in the old codex, Hellions. So of course I have to talk about Baron Sathonyx. I will also go over the 1850 point version of the themed list I like to call “The Freak Show”. Haemonculi, Wracks and Grotesques oh my!

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

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

The List Development Continues

So far I have gone 0-2 with “The List”. I lost a very bloody fight to Vogrin this past Wednesday. It was a classic pitched battle for kill points. I left 3 units in reserve and then seized the initiative. My alpha strike lacked punch though. This is the one big flaw that is emerging in the list. I lack a good ranged punch. I have been playing the Dark Eldar so much lately I am remembering the lack of long range punch a craftworld army has if you do not really design the list for that. I don't have these problems with the Dark Kin as I can still spam the Dark Lances with impunity. Vogrins Guard list is pretty solid. It lacks the usual mega unit you see so often. It is very well balanced and this is why I like to test lists against him. His armies are very well thought out and will really exploit weakness when found. Case in point I did not get off a single Fortune the entire game. In fact the only power I got off was an Eldritch Storm on a Valkyrie. Vogrin did not have any luck either as he lost sanctioned psykers like crazy due to my Runes of Warding. His primaris even took a wound due to perils. The loss of Fortune really put a damper on things. I lost my warlocks very quickly and I lost the Avatar in turn 2 due to 4 failed armor and invulnerably saves in a row.

So the question is what can I do to really take out armor and take advantage of an alpha strike? I really don't know yet honestly. I need to stay in theme. I am very hesitant to use fire dragons as they tend to die quick after wasting a tank. As it stands I also have no aspect warriors so I can allow myself one unit. I am leaning towards Dark Reapers as they are the most popular Aspect shrine on Ulthwe. We will see. Maugan Ra and squad of Reapers may replace the Avatar. The bike Squad may shrink as well.

Plain and simple I was rolling like crap and I lack the long range punch. I have another list I am developing, but it is not a list I will make friends with. In fact I am kind of ashamed I made it. It is still in theme, but I let myself succumb to blatant use of a “death star” unit. In fact I use two. Double Seer councils of doom. Almost 1000 points of killy goodness containing 6 kill points. I will stay strong though and continue to develop the themed list.

So I have some more games to play and some changes and development to do. I have made some nice acquisitions on Ebay for the Craftworlders recently so I have some more options.

Adepticon is still a few months away so I have time.

In Dark Eldar news I have gotten some together. I do not have pictures as of yet, but I am very impressed with the detail and completeness of the kits. I do wish the warrior squad came with more special and heavy weapons though. I have to get some more blasters and splinter cannons to complete the Trueborn squad I am building to escort the The Duke. I procured an Archon model today which will see some extensive modification to turn him into The Duke.

So that’s it for today. I am kind of frazzled as it is finals week for me and I have one more to go. Once I am done I plan on diving in and getting a solid month of 40K list development, model building and painting done. So more next week on “The List” and some more on Dark Eldar. I am hoping to get in a battle with Old School Terminator next week with “The Freak Show” against a rather dubious Fabius Bile list he has developed. It will be a circus of freaks to be sure.

So until then.......

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