Breaking The Meta And Killing Riptides PT 2: Close Combat

So before I went on a tangent plugging the ever living daylights out of the Craftworld open and the other events the Craftworld team is bringing you at UCON, I was talking about killing Riptides and trying to break the current meta, which quite frankly is pretty rough right now. Last time we talked about shooting mostly. Now I want to delve into a subject there is much conjecture about in 6^th , edition, close combat. I want to also cover the use of Psychic powers, as this is one of the biggest Benefits the Eldar have when it comes to taking down tough enemy units. So lets get into the fray as it were.

Close Combat aka Assault

The Eldar have some crack assault troops. Howling Banshees and Striking Scorpions at the fore. There are some oft overlooked gems in the ranks of the Warhost though. One of my favorites and an excellent slayer of Riptides is the ignored and unused Shining Spear. Now that the Shining Spears can be taken in units of more than 5 they can be a very potent Assault unit. The Laser Lance Is a very short range weapon for shooting, but its primary function is close combat. At a strength of 6 and an AP of 3 they are very effective in hunting big varmints like Riptides. Combine this with the Ability of the Exarch have a strength 8 AP 2 Star Lance and Monster Hunter you can take down most monstrous creatures in a turn with a big enough unit. You also have Hit and Run so you can get out of combat and charge again to get your strength 6 again with the Laser Lances. I personally like running a Farseer and or Autarch with the unit to add some more punch and resiliency. Having invulnerably saves in the mix along with a possible Fortune is pretty handy. Now I know the Laser Lance is only AP 3 but that is effective against most targets. It is not effective to deal with a Riptide though, until that is you hit it with Jinx from a Warlock. I will get into this though when I cover psychic powers.

Dedicated close combat troops are an extremely effective way of dealing with Tau and some other army builds. You just have to know how to deploy them and how to use the troops effectively to get the desired results. The current rules set has killed one of the most effective ways to get your Striking Scorpions in to the fray quickly. Not being able to Assault after an Outflank deployment put a kibosh on one of my favorite tactics. This tactic forced your opponents to deploy his forces in such a way as to avoid being assaulted from the flanks. You can still do this but with units like War Walkers though. Its risky putting a lot of units in reserve, but using a screen of War Walkers followed by a unit of Scorpions can help get the Scorpions into the fray. Most opponents will try and take out the War Walkers first especially if they are armed with something suitably nasty.

Deployment for Scorpions is going to be completely situational. Infiltrating will probably be your best bet for many situations. Deploying in terrain to take advantage if the move through cover and more importantly Stealth will help keep the unit alive as it advances. The real trick is using your other units to funnel your quarry towards the Scorpions. Scarier mobile units can be used in this way. Shining Spears or even the dreaded bike council can really make big critters move where you want them to when you have them barreling down on them.

Arming your Exarch, and actually running an Exarch, is pretty clutch when hunting big critters. Also running a squad of 10 is important. When monster hunting I always arm the Exarch with a Scorpions Claw. With Crushing blow he is strength 7 and strikes at initiative. Adding Monster Hunter to the mix helps the rest of the Squad possibly finish off the high wound models. The only real snag is if the Monster is a character and it challenges the Exarch. With only 4 attacks on the charge the Exarch cant kill a full wound Riptide or Tervigon in one round. Which is kind of important as the Exarch will die quickly on strikes back in a challenge. Dedicated monster hunting units are substantially bolsters by the presence of a Phoenix Lord. Karandras and Jain Zar in their receptive Aspect units make the units much tougher to deal with for your opponent and the killing power is also increased.

Howling Banshees are not really suited to hunting big prey, but they seem to be geared towards hunting characters, especially IC's, and death star units, at least in a support kind of way. They strike fast, but not particularly hard. The Exarch can be kitted with an Executioner which makes her strength 5 with an AP of 2. This is pretty decent for hunting IC's. You can neutralize the IC by giving the Exarch disarming strike and shield of Grace. With very few exceptions you will always be striking first as well. The Banshees are great for supporting Scorpions if you have another unit moving in to support the unit or model the Scorpion unit is attacking.

The Seer Council is a good bridge between Assault and our next topic, Psychic powers. I have always preferred a council on Foot, but its proving to be quite cumbersome anymore. I prefer the foot council

mainly because you cant put Eldrad on a bike. Oh lord do I want Eldrad on a bike. The Bike council is a Death Star at its best. Mobile and chuck full of Eldar psychic Shenanigans. They are good against pretty much everything. Their resiliency make them excellent for fighting other death stars and tough units. If anything just to tar pit them so they are completely ineffective for the rest of the game. The only real down side to a full bike council, that is 10 warlocks on bikes and 2 Farseers, is the amount of points the unit takes up in a list. They can, however, completely cripple a unit before slamming into it and laying waste to it. Jinx, reveal, horrify, enervate and Drain all sap out a units effectiveness and with 10 Warlocks in the group you should get most all of these powers, sometimes doubling up so you can use the Blessing portion to further enhance your already formative capabilities.

We will get into the intricacies of Psychic powers next time. The real thing I am trying to convey is thinking outside the box and trying different things in the codex. The Eldar have changed substantially and it seems people are hung up on Wave Serpent Spam and the old way of doing things.

SO next time Psychic powers.....and probably more UCON plugging

Until next time.....

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well to everybody Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Craftworld Lansing. I have been busy this week with all the crazy crap that happens in retail, even auto parts, the week of Thanksgiving. I have been busy though rekindling my hobby bug.

Since I am an alternate on Team Deathstar for the Adepticon Team tournament I have been putting together a 1000 points of death starry goodness. I have decided to go with the Craftworlders. I think to make a proper deathstar, the team theme, you need a beefy unit that can take the pain and dish it out. So I have decided to do a project I have been putting off for quite a while now. The Bike Council. I have the Farseer already done. I have begun work on the Warlocks. I have 4 in primer and need to get 3 more jet bikes.

I am using the Chapter House Studios Warlock and Farseer on jet bike conversion kits. I have 6 more to get and I will be ordering soon. Keep your eyes peeled on eBay as I am going to be putting some of my Forgeworld up for sale. I have already sold my Revenant Titan, tear....., and I will be putting up some smaller tanks and Eldar bits I have sitting around gaining dust.

My Ork horde will also be gaining some new models as I continue to build, very slowly, the Kabal Of Da Big Teef. The Judge has made me an offer I can't refuse for some trades. So happy Turkey day. I will post some more pics as I get jet bikes painted. OST really hit the nail on the head when he started his Deathwing. Having an army that is small is easy to transport and a lot quicker to paint.

Until next time...

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

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

Product Review: Chapter House Studios Farseer and Warlocks on Jetbikes

Finally they have arrived. I am very excited that I have finally received my Farseer and Warlocks on Jet bikes conversion kits from Chapter House Studios. I have to say I am very pleased by the kits and it was worth the wait. I bought one Farseer and four Warlocks. This is what held up my order as the warlocks were out of stock when I placed my order. Chapter House Studios is a two man operation and have proved extremely popular so be patient if your order takes a little while. They are cranking the models out as fast as possible. But I digress

The Farseer kit provides two choices of body, male or female, and a choice of weapons, either singing spear or witch blade. They also have these nifty shield generators you mount on the side of the jet bikes cowl. It makes the model really stand out. All you need to provide is a jet bike to mount them on. I went hunting on eBay for a good deal on bikes.  I found quite a few deals for 3 or more so finding bikes should not prove hard if you want to do this project on the cheap. The kits themselves are gorgeous. They have a lot of detail and fit together very nicely. One word of warning though. If you have not worked with resin before you should brush up on the subject. Resin can be a harsh mistress. I like the kind of resin they are using for the kits though. It has more give than the stuff from Forgeworld. I did not have the problems I had with my Titan. My experience has taught me that Forgeworld resin is brittle and pretty unforgiving. The Chapter House figures did not give me any problems though.

The kits run about $15.00 each so about the cost of a GW independent character. It is defiantly worth the price. The figure is detailed and looks great, even despite my meager painting skills. Chapter House has many great conversion kits for other armies as well. I know Old School Terminator is a fan of their Salamanders Chaplin. Check them out at their website.

I am very pleased I can now bring a Seer Council in quick for some dooming then getting out of harms way. I will have a battle report with the new Bike council very soon.

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

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