Lets Get Freaky: The "Freak Show" list pt 1

I decided I needed to tweak and experiment with “The Freak show” list a little more. I have gotten two games in with this themed list at the 1500 point level and it has some major faults and weaknesses that I need to address. This of course will be easier at the 1850 point level to deal with. The list is, for those of you who have not read the first posting about this, a list themed around Haemonculi and Wracks. I was inspired after watching the movie “Hellraiser “ while perusing the new codex.

The core of the list centers around Wracks. Normally and elites choice, they become a troops choice when a Haemonculi is included in the army list. This follows the 5^th edition theme of special characters , miscellaneous independent characters and squad upgrades making a unit count as a troops choice. This is the second unit in the codex that can be counted as troops, the other being Hellions when you take Baron Sathonyx as an HQ choice.

Wracks are a curious unit and must be used very carefully. If the standard Dark Eldar army can be considered very difficult to play even for an experienced player, as Phil Kelly the writer of the codex suggest, a Wrack based army is even harder. They are almost purely a close combat unit. You can upgrade one in five in the squad to have a liqufier gun, which is dubious at best, but other than that they have no shooting. This also means a lack of anti tank weaponry. You basically have the Dark lances on the raiders and that’s it. They also only have a 6+ armor save. This kind of makes people, except former or current Ork players, shy away from them. They do have their advantages though. Being a close combat unit they are armed with two close combat weapons. This gives them 3 attacks on the charge. To top it off they are a 4+ poisoned weapon. This opens up a lot of possibilities especially if you upgrade one to an Acothyst as you can arm this leader variety with an Agoniser or several other pieces arcane close combat goodness. With a Weapon Skill of 4 Wracks can hit and wound just about everything on a 4+. Given they have a base initiative of 4 you are hitting at the same time or before most units. This is not to bad. If you pick your battles well you can come out with minimal casualties. With the Altered Physique rule Wracks also start with a pain token. This gives you FNP right off the bat. Stick in a haemonculi with the unit and the have furious charge. Granted the boost to strength may seem wasted, but remember you get to re roll wounds if the strength of the model is equal to or greater than the toughness of the model its hitting with a poisoned weapon. Having an initiative of 5 makes it so you usually hit first as well.

SO we have our Haemonculi filling up the HQ slots and Wracks in the troops. Our Elites slot is occupied by Grotesques. These ogryn sized monstrosities are larger versions of the Wracks. This is an upgrade form the last codex as Grotesques filled the spot Wracks not fills. These hulking brutes also start the game with a pain token. They must be led by an Independent character though or they run the possibility of going on a rampage and being removed form the board after having their way with every unit within 2D6 inches be it friend or foe. Since they occupy 2 slots in a transport I have taken a different approach to delivering this unit to the board. I can only fit 4 in a raider with at least one Haemonculis leading the unit. I want to run a bigger unit that that. Despite the FNP and being toughness 5 with 3 wounds only running 4 will see these expensive abominations wiped rather quickly. To counter this I deliver this unit via Webway Portal. This also allows me to bring in any units I hold in reserve, as long as its not a vehicle, in from the portal. These guys are pretty tough in close combat and will have furious charge and FNP right off the bat. Not to shabby. Old School Terminator spotted this nice resin model that I am pretty sure is supposed to be a grotesque. Check it out over at Paulson Games.

Well I have gone on enough so far. Looks like this will be a two part post. I will cover the heavy slots and post the actual list this weekend. I have not been able to play the list at the 1850 level yet and I plan on doing so soon. I think it has potential and is a great theme list. I am hoping to play a Tau army for a nice Fluff filled battle report mimicking Urien Rakarths pillaging of the Tau planet of Vigos.

I hope I have some takers.

Until then....

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

The Freak Show: Haemonculi based armies

Well kids I tried out an army concept I have been pondering since my first glimpse of the Dark Eldar Codex. The “Freak Army”. This is a purely themed army list that is lead by a coven of haemonculi. The base of this army is of course Wracks. Wracks are the heavily and horrifically modified servants of the Haemonculi. Some are actually volunteers others, well lets just say they weren't willing subjects.

Supplementing the wracks are units of Grotesques. I was only able to include one Chronos Parasite Engine because my trial game was 1500 points. I may not include more as you will see why in a bit.

I faced off Against the Storm Lord and his Necron army. We played a 1500 point pitched battle for kill points. I deployed my three Wrack units in Raiders on the table and kept the Grotesque unit in reserve along with the Chronos. After moving flat out in turn one strait towards the Necrons with two of the raiders I got fairly close with the 3^rd and disembarked the Wracks. The Haemonculis leading them was equipped with a Webway portal so I could deploy the big boys close to the enemy. The whole strategy was to get close and get into hand to hand as quickly as possible. Which I did. I did loose some Wracks, but in the first two turns I took out lots of warriors, a tomb spyder and inflicted some wounds on the Night Bringer. Ultimately One of the Wrack units actually killed the C'Tan. The 4+ poison close combat weapons they have are very nice for laying into targets bigger than them. They are a bit disappointing against soft targets like Guard, Tau and other Eldar but effective none the less.

If not for the uncanny ability of the Storm Lord to roll “we'll be backs” I think I could have tabled him. This was not the case as it seems his knowledge of his army has increased quite a bit and he kept his lord out of reach. Also I could not really hurt the monolith. 3 dark lances is just not enough for that beast. The Game ended in only 5 turns and I was edged out by a kill point.

So what did I learn from this rather close game? Well first I was surprised by how well the list actually did. The Wracks when lead by a Haemonculis is sitting pretty with two pain tokens right off the bat. Granted this is not a big deal having furious charge as you have the poison weapons but the 5 initiative is very nice. The Grotesques on the other hand, it is a big deal. This increases their strength to 6 on the charge. The unit of 6 I took had both my Haemonculis Ancients in it. They were devastating to whatever they charged into. The toughness of 5 really gives them an edge and combine that with 3 wounds and its pretty nice. Of course they have no save other than a FNP roll. When you have the Haemonculi armed with agonizers and liqufier guns, then add a liqufier gun to the unit of Wracks it is very bad for whatever squad you attack, as Long as you roll decently for the AP and strength of the gun.

The list is very all or nothing. If you get mired down and can't get close you might as well scoop. This type of themed army is a little weak against tanks as you only have 3 or 4 dark lances and possible a couple monstrous creatures to destroy vehicles. I am going to tweak the list a little and get it up to 1850 and try it out at our FLGS Evolution Games today and see how it stacks up against Space marines and Guard. I may take out one of the Haemonculis Ancients so I can squeeze in 2 talos and some Scourges. I think the scourges fit the freak theme as they are also products of the twisted haemonculi. I actually like how this list works. It is not quite a bland as the Kabalite lists I have been running. It has a lot of character and has lots of modeling potential. I will get it up to 1850 and report later this week how it did.

I will also be working on my Craftworld Adepticon list as I have a few tweaks to do with it as well. I have to get in some games vs guard and space wolves as me thinks I will be seeing a lot of them at the convention.

One more bit as well. Granted I could care less, but apparently blood angels is getting a second wave. Rumor has ti the storm raven will be dropping in February and boy is it ugly. More Importantly than that the Dark Eldar fliers will be dropping not that long after. It would seem GW has plans for a flier based expansion. Think spearhead like. I guess we will have to see what happens. I am still crossing my fingers that Grey Knights does not drop before the cutoff to use them in Adepticon. Granted even if they do people will be hard pressed to learn the nuances and get miniatures ready.

Well off to the FLGS for some 40K . I will have some bat reps and tidbits later in the week

Until then....

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