The Art of War: Eldar Tactics pt 2

I keep emphasizing mutual support and using your units in concert so your whole army acts like one entity rather than just the individual parts. All your units working together and achieving greater results than they could alone is called synergy. Synergy, in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently.

The term synergy comes from the ancient Greek word syn-ergos, meaning 'working together'

I am having a feeling of deja vu. Me thinks Old School Terminator had some things to say about this as well, but in regard to his Tyranids over at Dark Future Games.

So how do you use your units together to achieve greater results. It sounds simple, but it really is not. As any seasoned Eldar player knows, a vast majority of your units are really good at one thing. The problem is that you must make all these specialists work like a well oiled machine and not have the whole army fall apart when one unit is destroyed. This is why many player give up on Eldar. They just cannot make it work.

Unit Interaction

So how do you make it work? The first thing you must do is give your units a job and make them stick to the job. The dire avengers are going to hold the objective. The Dark reapers are going to support the Dire Avengers by eliminating threats and approaching units. Giving a unit a job is basically tasking them with the one thing they are good at. If you re-task a unit every turn you loose efficiency and you potentially throw off the flow of the army. By re task I mean using the unit in a different capacity. Going from anti infantry to anti vehicle with dark reapers and not really supporting another unit. Fire Discipline must be maintained. You must resist the temptation to throw everything you have at one target. If you sacrifice support fire to take down a target that is not an immediate threat you risk loosing a n important unit or a unit holding an objective.

One of the most important forms of support is how you use your Seer Council or Farseer. As psychic powers are one major advantage the Eldar army has, you need to use them effectively and efficiently.

I Ideally like to have 2 Farseers. I use Eldrad Ulthran a lot as he is the best psyker in the game and he is a bargain at 210 points. This allows me to run an inexpensive second Farseer. Mobility is important for the second seer. I usually give the second seer only 2 powers and mount him on a jet bike. Fortune and Doom are your best power options. If there are lots of low leadership models I also give him Mind War. Mind war is an excellent way to deal with heavy weapons squads and specialists. You can remove specific models to assist your other units.

So basically to sum up you must stay on task and keep your eye on the prize so to speak. You will run into instances where a unit will get into a situation it is not equipped to deal with but this is why you must make sure you can support that unit with another that is good at that particular situation. Your opponet may strike at opportunity targets or just fire at the big shiny units they deem a threat. You must keep one thing in mind. If the game is objective based you must make the entire task and mission of the army as a whole to take and defend the objectives. If its a kill point mission then you must systematically eliminate each enemy unit one at a time.

Well there is my two cents. It may not be exact and may even be vague but that's what happens when you play Eldar. You have to essentially learn the army. They are not forgiving and easy to play like marines. Next time I am going to talk about how to approach different army types, IE shooty armies, deep striking armies and so on and so fourth.

Until then....

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

The Road to Adepticon

Well Adepticon 2011 is on April First this coming year. Yours truly will be attending and playing in the Grand Tournament, among others. So I am going to start the chronicle of my Road to Adepticon. I am going to start by saying I am not a big tournament player and honestly I don't pay much attention to the forums when it comes to building a tournament list. If you get in that habit we start seeing the same predictable lists which are very easily countered..

That said I am going to be different and do a themed list. It is going to be Ulthwe Craftworld still but it is going to have mobility as a theme. I am going to be using Swooping hawks, Vyper bikes, Jetbikes and a Bike Council. Thats all I know for now. I will be making some model purchases as I want to configure some things differently.

So I will be doing some modeling and possible list updates as I work through the months leading up to the convention.

I am a pretty seasoned Convention goer, but I have not been to one in a few years. This will be my first major one in several years so I am going to make it count. I have added a count down until Adepticon on the page. Only 207 Days to prepare

More to come later. Have a good labor day Weekend. I should have part 2 of my tactics article up mid week.

Until Then......

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

Run Archon Run: Campaign Game 4

Well The Judge and I squared off in game 4 of our bi-weekly campaign on Wednesday.  This mission was 1500 points and basically all I had to do was run the hell off the board.  The Judge came loaded for bear with lots of attack bikes and land speeders.  Brother Overkill, Chaplin Stonewall and Sgt Badass and his sushine kids were all present to try and stop my Archon from doing what he does best.  Run Away.
Setup had be in the center 3rd of the table.  Exactly 24 inches from the edge I had to escape from.  If I had had first turn I would have had all my forces, except my two ravagers as heavies had to be kept in reserve, off the table turn two.  The Judge had first turn though and scored a kill on a Raider and forced another to stay put.  My turn one sees warriors form the downed Raider covering the escape of the three that did make it to the board edge and the Raider that could not move tried to down a land speeder.  The Judge dished out some melta love on the Raider That could not move in the previous turn and it exploded taking 3 warriors with it.  The Attack bikes finished them off in close combat.  My turn two saw the Archon and his retinue along with two Raider Squads escape, which gave me 4 "Kill Points".  The Raiders turned to fire after the squads disembarked as they dedicated transports did not count as kill points for the Judge.  The onslaught continued as Brother overkill and Chaplin Stonewall, with 5 terminators in a land raider, came in and squished the rear guard warrior squad left.  The Ravagers came out one at a time in turn 3 and 4 and were promptly downed by lascannon fire.  So with the two squads and two Ravagers down for The Judge we had a tie game.
I should have taken Reaver bikes instead of the Ravagers.  I could have had them on the table and escaped very quickly.  Plus if I had them in back the loss of one or two would be ok as long as the squad itself made it off the board.  Lesson Learned.

I was also disappointed by a blurb on BOLS about when we are going to see the Phantom Titan.  Apparently we are getting the Badab War in Imperial Armor 9 and 10 then Some Space Wolves and Imp Guard Versus Eldar in Imperial Armor 11.  Needless to say I want a bigger Titan.  Oh well Guess that means I can buy a second Revenant Titan, this time with Sonic Lances.  Maybe some Fighters.
Well next time perhaps some more tactics.  I know I need to do the next session of Rogue Trader as well.  So many topics so little time for me to write.

  Until Next time.......

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

The Art of War: Eldar tactics pt 1

Well its time to get down to business. I may not be the greatest Seer out there but my Win record is pretty good. So its time to share my thoughts and tactics I have used to win battle for the glory of Ulthwe.

When fielding a War-host in battle you cannot think of it as individual units. You must think of it as a single weapon. The individual units are nothing without the others. You cannot rely on a single unit to carry you through the battle, no matter how awesomely powerful it is. One of the first hurdles for a Seer is to determine the deployment of your force.

Deployment

5^th edition has lead to mechanized forces being almost the norm for any game you play. With the Exception of Tyranid and Daemon armies, which have many ways to Deep Strike, out flank and otherwise get in your face really quick, you are going to be facing units dug into cover or advancing in a transport. When I deploy my War host I have 3 “layers” to the force. The first layer is my units that are mounted up in wave serpents. These form the main attack force. Depending on the number of units this is and if I have any units deep striking I will keep one or 2 of these units in reserve as a relief force to keep momentum up in an attack. Keeping back a Unit of Dire Avengers or a Jet Bike Squad in reserve is a good way to keep your troop choices safe for some late turn objective grabs.

The second layer is composed of the long ranged support troops such as Dark Reapers, support platforms, Rangers and Night Spinners. Fire Prisms can be in the first or second layer depending on your strategy. I personally like to keep them in the second layer to support the advancing forces and supporting the units holding objectives. Ranger are great for holding objectives in cover. I will talk about objective placement in the next section as it will help determine your deployment.

The second layers whole job is to support the advancing force and keep enemy units from the objectives. Attacking units should not be pulled back as this will force a loss of momentum in your attack which gives your opponent time and opportunity to strike back hard as you redeploy your army.

That said you must make sure that your second layer is dug in. You must set up units in cover and make it very costly for your opponent to get them out. Giving your Rangers and Dark reapers a good vantage point of the battle field is important. I favor buildings, but I like to put them on a mid level rather than on the top. This prevents barrage weapons from targeting them indirectly As they can only hit the top floor.

The third layer consists of your deep striking and out flanking units. These reserve troop are essential to continue the push by the first layer or back up a faltering second layer. The whole key, as I have always said, is all the units working as one and mutually supporting the others. Fire discipline is key. Identify targets with the most threat and the ones he needs to complete the game. Laying into a killer unit it all well and good until the troops choice you were ignoring waltzes in and takes the objective.

Set-up

Strait up kill point games are pretty strait forward. Objective games have some nuances. Objective placement is going to help determine where and how you are going to deploy your troops. You must guard your troops choices so that they can take objectives and defend them. This means Wave Serpents. I almost always use Dire Avengers as my objective holders as they are good all around troops and can dish out some pain. Their weapon range is also good.

Objectives should be placed in cover. This way the units holding them can benefit from a cover save and it mucks up assaults for enemy troops. You also want the objectives you place to be in your long range support troops line of sight and range. Overlapping fields of fire are important as this means you can more effectively defend the objectives.

SO theirs a start. I will continue this nest time. I must prepare for tonight’s campaign game. I have another rematch with the Judge and the Archon has one last chance to prove himself.

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

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

I hate moving.

Apologies to all. I know I was cranking stuff out, but I have been moving all this past week and classes also started. I have been a bit busy. Once stuff settles down and my brain gets unfrazzled I will continue trying to do 3 or 4 entries a week. Probably more like 2 or 3, but still a greater effort.  I hate it when real life throws a monkey wrench in my gaming and blogging.

Tactics articles is what I am going to try and focus on for a bit. These take time to develop.

In the mean time check out my eBay auctions. I posted a link for them. I am going to be putting up a blood bowl boxed set including death zone. I will also be putting up about 7 different teams. There may be some assault marine stuff, venerable dreadnought and a space hulk librarian if nobody at the Evolution wants to buy them.

Check out the auctions if you like Blood Bowl or know somebody who does.

So next time some Eldar Tactics.

Until then

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

I see Dead people: Wraithguard

Well this started out as an entry for the Elites section of the Eldar Codex. Then I realized I had already kind of covered the entire Elites section with the Aspects of Khaine Series. So rather than be redundant I will cover the last unit in the Elites section. The mighty and often wrongly used Wraithguard.

Next to Dark Reapers these are the most expensive troops in the codex. At 35 points each they are expensive. Add in the Warlock and you have a unit that has the potential to do some real damage if used correctly. Many on the Forums scoff at Wraithguard and the concept of the “Wraith Wall”. The “Wraith Wall” is basically an Iyanden Ghost Warrior army. You have 2 units of 10 Wraithguard with a Warlock upgraded to a Spirit Seer and at least 2 Wraithlords making up the bulk of the points of the army. With a Maxed out, points wise, Warlock leading the 10 man unit the squad clocks in at around 396 points. Hefty for a troops choice. This is the only way to get Wraithguard as a troops choice though.

The whole strategy is not so different from a Necron Phalanx formation. You march the Wraithguard and Wraithlords forward while you advance your other foot troops behind them in support. Since they are toughness 6 and you can hit them with Conceal they become hard to kill and when they get into weapons range the opposing army is supposed to fold due to the nature of the Wraithcannon. In theory anyways. I am not here to debate the “Wraith Wall” though, although I may in the future.

Wraithguard are tough and pack a mean punch at close range. I use them in squads of 5. this way I can pack them with their warlock into a Wave Serpent. Given the small number in the squad I use them to take out tanks and monstrous creatures. Small command squads are good to but given the short range of the wraith cannon you want to make sure whatever you are hitting is not going to be able to shoot back or assault you. If you are busting vehicles you want to make sure you arm their wave serpent with Anti-infantry in mind to help support the unit. Shuriken cannons, scatter lasers or even Missile launchers are all good choices. Even if you are using Wraithguard to take out big nasties like trygons or carnifexes or even daemon princes using high strength anti infantry weapons like scatter laser are recommended. This will force more rolls and possible kill any retinue. You cannot rely on an instant kill from the wraith cannon with only 5 in the unit. Also if the target has an invulnerably save you cannot rely on the instant kill to go off. Use of doom is recommended just to maximize your kills. Rolling a 1 with only 5 in the unit takes away 20% of your kill potential. Also I like to actually put a Farseer into the unit just so he can guide them and provide better backup than a warlock You want to make every shot count. I still also include the Warlock though. Having 2 invulnerably saves in the unit you can re-roll is nice.

This is why most people do not use or just don't use Wraithguard properly. They must be protected and delivered to the front line as fast as possible where they can make up for their points value. They can be very devastating. I have taken out unwounded mawlocs and trygons with one hit. Remember above all else to support them with the other units in the army. Take out the hand to hand specialists with you scorpions or banshees. Rain down death with your dark reapers. Keep the other units to busy to really be able to do anything about the Wraithguard walking ominously amongst their army. Wraithguard, mush like the Wraithlord is what I like to call a terror troop. The enemy generally douses their pants at the sight of them and then make rash and hasty decisions in order to get rid of them. Layers the protections and the support for Wraithguard continues this illusion by saying “these guys are valuable and I don't want them to die” Most players would not think that you would blow so many points on a very lethal distraction. 40K is as much a psychological game as it is a game of strategy and generalship. If your opponent is freaking out then you play on that fear and turn it to your advantage. Wraithguard and Wraithlords are generally feared because of one used to great effect against the person at one time or another or they have never faced one and do not know how to counter it. You must use that to your advantage. Make the unit stand out prominently and make it seem its the lynch pin of your army. This could cause the expenditure of a lot of resources by your opponent to kill the unit. This distracts him or her from the real goal or threat.

SO there you have it my 2 cents on the remaining Elites choice in the codex. As soon as I figure out how I want to illustrate it I am going to start covering army set up and deployment. Then we will move into tactics based on mission.

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

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

The End of Days: Aftermath

The guns have gone silent and the dust has cleared. The “End of Days” Tournament is over. All in all “Team Ramrod” did pretty good. We won our first two games. Game one saw us against a combined Eldar and Tau force being backed up by a Daemon Prince and a Space Marine Predator. The Tau were slain to the man With Eldrad making short work of the Daemon prince. The veterans of Dave's Imperial Guard force dealt with the Crisis suits and Commander while at the same time laying waste to the Eldar hanging back with his manticore. We held one objective and so did they, but we got the win from kill points.

Game two Saw us face down Captain Obvious and our resident Daemon player Jake. This game was a close one and saw one of the biggest and bloodiest combats I have ever been in. Now the Rules for the Tournament state that you can take one unit form a different HQ that cannot be from the main army your partner is fielding. I was using Sanguinary Priests with both my Seer Council and Howling Banshees. Dave was using one of my Ravagers with his 2 veteran Squads, 2 Psyker Battle squads, scout sentinels and manticore. Game two saw us meeting up against Failbaddon The Failspoiler with Brother Corbulo, The Emperors Champion and 10 Black Templar Initiates in a land raider crusader. We also had to contend with 12 Blood Crushers, a Blood Thirster and a unit of Pink Horrors. Eldrad and his coterie of Warlocks Along with the Banshees met with The Failspoiler and his big unit of Hurt. They came out with no casualties. All 10 initiates and Failbaddon died with the Emperors Champion taking a wound. The Blood Crusher Unit that was close, and down to 4, charged in and killed 9 banshees. Eldrad and his boys stood firm and killed one crusher. The combat ended the next turn with Eldrad and his warlocks finishing off the Blood Crushers. They then dealt with the Land raider which had been immobilized. The Guard were doing their best to defend our objective, this was a capture and control mission. The second Blood Crusher unit was reduced to two from the shooting onslaught. The Horrors eluded death on several occasions thanks to Dave's dice rebelling. The blood thirster was reduced to 1 wound though thanks to sentinel auto cannon fire and the dizzy's on the Ravager. The sentinels held the Blood Crushers in Combat, but sadly when the Blood Thirster added his attacks to the melee they were destroyed. The game was close as our objective was contested and they did not claim theirs. We tied on kill points, but thanks to Eldrad's Head Hunting of HQ's we won the game.

Game three did not go well. We had, shall we say, Deployment issues. I held Eldrad in Reserve when I should have put him on the table. The opposing force had just about every cheesy trick in the book on their side. Duel Lash Princes, Thunder Wolf Cavalry, Thousand sons and a blood thirster. We stalled and they got first turn. The guard was valiant but died to the man. They took a major toll though as they took down all that came against them and killed them. The Wolf Lord and one Thunder wolf cav guy were all that was left. When Eldrad decided to join the mix around turn three he and the boys killed both lash princes and all the Thousand sons including their Rhino. If I would have put him on the table turn one he would have been able to kill the obliterators and the Broadside suits on that side of the table. This team won the tournament. We ranked high though and walked away with some store credit at good old Evolution Games.

This was fun I want to thank Old School Terminator of Dark Future Games for running a very fun and smooth tournament.  I also want to thank my partner Dave and His Imperial Guardsman.  They did the Guard proud. Congrats to the winners. The Judge took home the Castellion Award for the most objectives taken. The Kill point winner Alex took home a nice plaque with a real Marine k-bar, a cool knife, on it. The Judge got a nice big box of MRE's. Austin took home the Head Hunter Award for most HQ kills.

Me thinks this means that I will be hosting a tournament in the next year. I am thinking a 2250 point Gladiator Tournament. Perhaps on the Year anniversary of the blog. Maybe sooner.

Until then

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