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Offline Ibushi

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #40 on: September 14, 2015, 10:27:58 PM »
Alright team Eldar, just got back from another 2-day, 5-game event out here in the PNW, have a quick rundown for you:

1850 Croneworld Eldar:

Farseer - jetbike

5 d-guard
Wave Serpent - holo-fields

9 Storm Guardians - 2x fusion
3x 3 scatbikes
2x 3 jetbikes

Falcon - BL
Wraithknight - sword
Void Shield Generator

Aspect Host:
8 Warp Spiders + Exarch
5 Fire Dragons + Exarch
4 Dark Reapers + Exarch

Just the regulars, but switched out guardians for a squad of storms to try them out, and the hawks for a converted VSG I just built.

One big thing about this tournament is it used unmodified Destroyer (not such a big deal), and unmodified Invisibility (more of a big deal), so I rolled on Telepathy every game to try for that.

Game 1 was against a sweet Blood Angels army which reminded me of the good old days of 3rd-4th Edition when I first started playing. Basically, he had Dante+Sanguinary Guard followed by Mephiston+Vanguard in a Storm Raven, backed up by a terminator Librarian+2x scout squads on foot, and an Imperial Knight with melta cannon.

Highlight of this game was giving him Turn 1, where he moved the Knight forward somewhat. Then in Eldar Turn 1, the Wraithknight decided to jump forward and take on the giant robot straight away. Hammer of Wrath did 2 HP, then the ghostglaive did a boatload of destroyer explosions, causing the Knight to go nuclear -- the blast scattered 3" and easily caught the WK with a D-explosion, managing to 6 out the big dog in one hit! Both big monsters down with one hit hahahaha!

At that point Dante and Mephiston came in from reserve and punched out some stuff, but they got cleaned up by shooting in short order.

Eldar Victory!

Lesson Learned: Don't let the D get too close!

Game 2 was against Necron Player #1 -- first time against a proper Decurion!

He had two big blocks of warriors, two squads of tesla immortals, one squad of destroyers, a triarch stalker, and the big ugly -- a C'tan!

The crons couldn't punch through the Void Shields, and just marched forwards for two turns, only losing the triarch (in turn 2), and a couple of destroyers in the process.

One the phalanx reached mid-table, the Eldar sprang forward, warp spiders taking the C'tan down to 1 wound, the Wraithknight charging into the Overlord and his block of 20 warriors, the Farseer pinning a unit of Immortals with Eldritch Storm, and the Destroyers being wiped by combined shooting. The next turn the C'tan was able to charge and eliminate the storm guardians (he managed to make an invulnerable save on the charge against overwatch, or else he would have exploded), but on the Necron side the Wraithknight chased down the Warlord with ease. Fire Dragons exploded the C'tan, killing a few models as the ancient energies escaped.

Highlight of this game was warp spiders charging a 20-man blob of necron warriors on the left flank to hold them up. They unexpectedly killed 2 warriors for no return, made them fail their leadership, and chased the whole block down in one turn-- ouch!

Eldar Victory!

Lesson Learned: A C'tan will explode all over you if you're not careful! Also, Necrons are not fearless -- run them down like dogs!

Game 3 was against Necron Player #2 -- Decurion!

This time the decurion was rocking a destroyer cult and some heavy destroyers, plus a canoptek harvest formation -- a much faster, more shooty, tougher Decurion than last time...

Fortunately for me, my opponent seized the initiative and moved forwards with his destroyer lord+destroyers to claim an objective in mid-field, bringing him within fatal range at a very early stage.

In the Eldar turn, wraithguard bailed out and lit up the destoyer lord with D-scythes, taking out him and his squad on the last invulnerable save. Warlord+First Blood+Maelstrom point, ouch! Then the Farseer cast Invisibility on the Wraithknight who jumped forward out of the Void Shield, daring the Necrons to shoot or assault him. Shooting managed to take out another destroyer unit completely, after some unfortunate armour saves, and put some wounds around elsewhere. Feeling lucky, the Wraithknight attempted a long charge into the third and final destroyer unit, and made it! Only a squad of heavy destroyers and the wraiths were scary at this point.

Rest of the game saw the Necrons take some objectives and try and counter-charge the Wraithknight with wraiths, but getting through Invisibility was just too tough and the big dog just walked through the Decurion after grinding down the wraiths in two turns.

Eldar Victory!

Lesson Learned: Shooting is king, but assault wins games! Especially against the ridiculously resilient Decurion: D them out or run them down.

Back on Day 2 as one of 2 undefeated players, and the other undefeated player is... Necrons! Played by my friend who drove me up to the event, who I managed to pull a win off back in the July tournament, so he is keen to spill some pointy ear blood!

Will be back shortly with a longer battle report for this game, as it was probably my most intense tactical play-by-play I have ever experienced!

Cheers
Ibushi




Post Merge: September 15, 2015, 12:05:37 AM
In the future, please use the modify button. Double posting is against the forum rules, and for that reason, the system merged your posts.

Game 4 against Garry's Killer Crons:

Cryptek: solar staff, WARLORD

2x 5 Immortals
1x Night Scythe
2x 5 Wraiths
8 Praetorians (the jump troops with void blades)
5 Tomb Blades - nebuloscope, wing vanes
3 heavy destroyers
2 heavy destoyers
Doomsday Ark

Void Shield Generator

Mission was just straight BRB Emperor's Will, playing on Hammer and Anvil. Terrain was a few columns of rocks (blocking LOS, but no cover saves, and somewhat sparse), with a giant impassable lava pit in the middle.

Eldar win the roll to choose table half -- inconsequential. Eldar win the roll to deploy first, and choose to deploy first, which is key for choosing to go first or second in Emperor's Will. On the one hand, Eldar could go second, castle up out of LOS and behind the Void Shields until Turn 5-6-7, and just boost jetbikes onto the objective last turn while bubbling Guardians around the home objective for the win -- but where's the fun in that?! Then while rolling psychic powers, the Farseer gets Invisibility on the second roll, and the Eldar change the game plan -- CHARRRGEE!!!

Necrons deploy, and cleverly measure 48" from all the jetbikes, to know where they can boost or shoot scatter lasers to, and deploys his wraiths and VSG in a tight corner out of range of everything for the first turn. Smart move. Meanwhile the Nightscythe+immortals, tomb blades, 2x deathmarks and 2x immortals are in reserve.


Turn 1

Eldarl take first turn, power up Invisibilty on the Wraithknight, and run several key aggressive units forwards: 1x scatbike + 1x jetbike unit goes up each flank (one pair on the left, on pair on the right), while the wave serpent boosts straight up the middle, closely followed by the Wraithknight (who rolled a 1" for run..). Farseer+guardians+dark reapers hold back around the VSG, while a squad of scatbikes stay on the home objective, waiting for the inevitable deathmarks and immortals. The Falcon moves foward to mid-field, but under the VSG, while the warp spiders roll a low warp jump and just hang out under the shields too.

Necrons unload everything (5 heavy gauss cannons, 1 doomsday cannon) into the wraithguard wave serpent, bringing it to 1 HP. The Wraiths think about charging it to finish the job, but realizing they would be in the warpath of an invisible wraithknight, think better of it and move backwards out of range.

Turn 2

Eldar jump forwards again to unleash a crushing assault into the Necron lines. Wave Serpent moves up and spins around, the d-guard drop down and manage to clip 4 wraiths for a stack of hits. After some lacklustre rolls to wound and for D-wounds coupled with some good armour saves, only 2 wraiths die. That was somewhat disappointing. Then other shooting fails to take down the Void Shields, so that's it. Wraithknight jumps up into a more aggressive position, while the Farseer moves and turbo-boosts on the far right flank to be in range for continued Invisibility casting.

Necrons laugh at the petty attempts of this upstart race, and easily destroy the wave serpent in the first shot. In the Eldar DZ, a squad of deathmarks arrive, peppering a jetbike squad to no effect after a bad scatter roll. Other shooting takes out another wraithguard with the Solar Staff, forcing a blind test -- the Wraithguard dutifully fail on a 6, preventing them from overwatching the wraiths as they charge -- crap! The destroyers shoot into the Falcon (no longer under the void shield), making it jink. Wraiths then kill the last wraithguard, sealing First Blood for the Necrons -- a crucial point in this low-scoring mission.

Eldar Turn 3

Reeling from such a brutal turn of events, the Eldar have only one choice: to continue the onslaught, but actually slaughter something now. Invisibility is successfully cast on the Wraithknight again, but this time the Farseer suffers a Perils, randomly forgetting one power - yikes! Rolling to randomly select, we think for a moment that Invisibility is the power he forgets, but realize a mistake, and he forgets Shriek instead. Phew, that would have been the end of it. On the left side of the board the Warp Spiders make an insane 17" jump followed by a long 5" run to get inside the Necron Void Shield, but only 4 models can squeeze in beside the sheltering wraiths -- they kill a model and do a wound, while the other 4 spiders fail to take down any shields. The Spiders then get a huge jet pack move to get fully away in the assault phase. A lot of luck for very little return! In the backfield, deathmarks are shot by jetbikes, scatbikes, and dark reapers, and dropped to 3 robots, but they hold (and are not destroyed somehow).

Wraithknight bounds forwards and obliterates a unit of destroyers, while shooting kills one more from the other unit. The Falcon moves up behind the Wraithknight to put Fire Dragons in position for next turn. The Wraithknight consolidates just an inch or two away from the Necron board edge, right in the middle of the board -- he has traveled pretty far!

Necrons retaliate by slinking away even further, putting all the wraiths a healthy 21-22" away from the stompy monster. A unit of deathmarks arrives in the Eldar DZ and kills two of the defending scatbikes. Shooting goes into the Falcon, taking 2 HP, and the Doomsday Ark spies some lazy jetbikes (forgot to check they were out of LOS), causing one scatbike squad to jink and still lose 2 members, while the other jetbike squad loses one model. The lone surviving destoyer then charges the Falcon to try and take it out, but fails.

Turn 4

It is actually getting very late into the game, and not much has happened to prevent the Necrons from protecting their home objective...the Eldar need to do some work! Farseer casts invisibility on the big dog again, who goes running towards the Necron shield generator (the closest model, with a 9" charge needed). Warp Spiders jump forwards again and put a wraith unit down to one model, but then fail to escape with a 4" jet pack move. Falcon moves up, spins around, and drops the Fire Dragons out, who need a 3" run to get inside the Void Shields -- they duly roll a 4", and then go ahead and blow the cursed structure sky high with 4 might penetrates! The explosion does 7 S6 hits to the Doomsday Ark, causing 2 HP but no serious damage -- yess! Meanwhile the warlord and his jetbike friends kill the last destroyer. Looking over to the left side of the field, I then realize that in my excitement I had forgotten to move the scatbikes out of cover (that's 2 scatbike movement mistakes in 2 turns -- the extended focus is wearing my brain out!), so the unit just sits there unable to shoot. In the backfield, Dark Reapers destroy a deathmark squad at least, while a squad of jetbikes that had been harassing the other deathmarks turbo-boosts back to the Eldar objective to make sure it is firmly held when the inevitable Night Scythe and immortals come on.

In assault, the Wraithknight is now an inch or two closer to his target, as the doomsday ark is a longer model, and he easily makes his charge. Ghostglaive hits destroy the doomsday ark with ease, turning into a ball of green flames -- claiming an immortal in the explosion! Yess, one more obsec model for the Eldar to worry about!

Necrons turn around and send a full-strength unit of wraiths into the unwounded wraithknight, losing two for no wounds caused. Meanwhile the praetorians and warlord charge the warp spiders for one casualty, and kill them down to the Exarch on one wound, and a single spider, who are able to hit & run and hide on top of a rock column. A lone wraith snakes out, still covered in shards of metal from his monofilament-laced companions, and is able to lance his talons through the Falcon in the middle of the Necron DZ.

On the right side of the field, a squad of tomb blades zoom onto the board, pumping the Eldar Warlord's unit full of gauss shots, killing one and causing the Farseer to fall back on an 11 -- oh dear oh dear! No invisibility for the wraithknight next turn, hopefully he survives! The Night Scythe also comes tearing on, drawing a bead on the Eldar objective and sending tesla shots coursing into the Dark Reapers, for no effect. Deathmarks in the Eldar DZ sneakily climb down their terrain to hide and claim Linebreaker out of LOS. Immortals line the Necron board edge to be out of range of stray wraithknight stomps, ready to claim the Necron objective shortly. They shoot into the Fire Dragons, causing no wounds.

In combat, the wraiths do a wound to the wraithknight, but lose a model.

Turn 5

What a game!

In the Necron end of the field, the unscathed Fire Dragons step up and are able to get 4 wounds on the 4 remaining obsec immortals. 4 failed Reanimation Protocols later, and the Necron objective is as good secured (or, more likely, contested) by the Eldar, as the Wraithknight is standing right on top of it. Phew, that was a big moment. The last full-strength scatbike squad turbo-boosts onto the objective to hopefully claim it (but mostly likely die).

The Farseer rallies, but is unable to do much. At least he won't be falling back and count as destroyed..

Warp Spiders take out the last wraith, over the wreck of both the falcon and wave serpent.

Storm Guardians decide to contribute to the battle by running forwards and putting 2 fusion shots into the Night Scythe, causing it to jink -- no hits, but that is all the Eldar needed.

Dark Reapers shoot into the Tomb Blades in the Necron backfield, to try and prevent them getting Slay the Warlord.

A single scatbike and a squad of jetbikes hide out of LOS by the Eldar objective.

In combat, the wraithknight kills another wraith, but remains locked.

Necrons Turn 5

At this point, the Necron player starts to move his Night Scythe and I suddenly remember I completely forgot to do my jetbike assault moves to bubble wrap the Eldar home objective -- it is totally open for the taking from 5 immortals, without any blocking or defence whatsoever! My opponent graciously allows the bikes to finish their assault moves and surround the objective marker. Scatbike jumps a few inches in front, while the jetbikes are right behind. Even so, in my haste I made two key mistakes (aside from the terrible mistake of forgetting to move them in the first place!) 1) putting the single model first, should have put the squad in the front to maximize bubble effect, and 2) not measuring how far away the models actually were -- I assumed I put the bikes 3" away from the objective, meaning the immortals could not get into 3" to contest, but actually it was more like 2", so without getting within 1" of my models, one immortal was actually close enough to the Eldar objective -- oh dear oh dear oh dear!

Fortunately shooting does not kill any of the bikers, that I recall, while the Tomb Blades do wound the Farseer, but fail to kill him. On the Necron objective, praetorians massacre the Fire Dragons and Jetbikes horribly, but given that there are no obsec models in that end of the field, that objective is a wrap.

At this point the game is standing at 2-1 to the Necrons, as they have Linbreaker and First Blood, while the Eldar only have Linebreaker, and both objectives are contested. Right then, the TO walks past and says we have 3 minutes left -- oh no!

I am confident I can finish my turn in 90 seconds, as there is only a single thing that needs to happen. If my wraithlord was unengaged, he could TRY to get the Necron warlord, but it is a very long shot and unlikely to succeed. Besides, at the end of the Necron turn he was unable to stomp out all the Wraiths anyway. In that case, the only way I can win is by re-claiming the Eldar home objective, which is just how it should be. There is one possible way to do it, but first I ask my opponent to roll to see if the game ends, netting him the victory -- he rolls a 3, IT CONTINUES!

Eldar Turn 6:
First,  Dark Reapers and jetbikes shoot the Immortals down to 3 models;
Second, the lone scatbike moves to the far side of the Immortal unit;
Third, scatbike charges the immortals, hoping they fail to do any wounds in Overwatch, which they don't.
Fourth, the Immortals react to the charge and move into base contact with the scatbike, pulling them less than a millimeter out of 3" range of the Eldar objective.
Fifth, the jetbike squad uses their assault move to jump forwards to just at 1" away from the immortals, preventing them from being able to consolidate and move back into range.

In combat, the scatbike makes his saves and is able to survive one round, preventing the necrons from consolidating then moving+running in their own turn to get around the scatbikes -- it still would have required a high run roll, but this way there was no possibility at all.

Glad I remembered the jetbike moves this time..

Necron Turn 6

The immortals cut down the last scatbike, but are unable to get within 3" of the Eldar objective again. There is no hope of taking 5 wounds off the Wraithknight standing on the Necron objective, Tomb Blades assault but fail to kill the Eldar Warlord, and time is called.

ELDAR VICTORY! 5-2

Phew, talk about Ancient Nemesis -- this was the game to end all games for the Croneworld Eldar. Only reason Tanaka the Cannibal was able to sneak through was because of gratuitous sportsmanship on the part of the Necron player, who will be known as the Father of the Void.

MVP: Fire Dragons! they actually pulled the heart out of the Necron defence, literally single-handedly, by blowing up the VSG, allowing the Eldar to shoot up the remaining wraith unit, and by slaying 4 immortals with a classically Eldar shooting phase -- so brutally efficient. Yes, some unlucky reanimation rolls for the Necrons, but that sealed it. Although if one immortal had survived, the scatbikes would have had to pump them full of lasers rather than turbo-boosting onto the objective, but still, it was a last straw for the Necron defence.

Runner-up MVP is clearly the Invisible Wraithknight for dictating the game so hard -- if anything he should have been more aggressive and just bee-lined for the VSG in the first place. In fact, if it happened again it might be a better call to cast Invisibility on the Wave Serpent T1, and just have the Wraithknight tank destroyer shooting for a turn before he can be assaulted. Wraiths will easily bring him down in assault over a couple of turns without Invisibility.

Wooden Spoon: The Farseer! Yes he was 100% crucial to the success of this game for the Eldar forces, but at the same time he abandoned his troops and fled for a turn right at a crucial moment in the battle! What a wuss, and he forgot psychic shriek to boot, his only offensive power that I was looking forward to casting..

Lesson Learned: Next time around I would make sure to bubble wrap the home objective with Guardians, instead of leaving them hanging out in some no-man's-land like i did this time around. Jetbikes are great, but you just need those bodies to soak wounds and create space to bubble objectives. Misplayed the guardians in this game, but not going to take them out of the list for it.

Secondly: Always remember to move all your units! Wow, stupidest mistake ever -- forgot to move a unit of scatbikes into LOS for a key turn.. Forgot to jetbike move troops onto home objective on the last turn of the game..my goodness. Move jetbikes into sneaky BLOS positions at first, then got lazy and didn't move them far enough afterwards. Need some kind of protocol to not forget these things..

What a great game! Totally felt like the Eldar lost this game, even though we moved forwards with a W as the only 4-0 force in the field.

« Last Edit: September 15, 2015, 12:05:37 AM by Ibushi »
Check out my PLOG! Croneworld Koxinga Rises

Wet Coast GT 2015 Best Overall
TSHFT 08-15 3rd Place, Best Eldar
Guardian Cup 8.5 Best General
Attack-X Best Overall
WGWB 2015 Best Overall
Tanksgiving 2015 Best Overall

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #41 on: September 15, 2015, 07:04:22 AM »
Awesome bat-rep Ibushi and nice win. Necrons are really, really tough. If you are playing against a decent opponent things can go drastically wrong if you make even a few mistakes, with the resilience of the Necrons compounding it.

Did you feel that you were having a hard time out shooting them? Because thats how I've felt when playing against horde-style Necrons. Its the whole reason I started incorporating close-combat more heavily into my force. The Sword&Board Wraithknight is perfect against this type of list.

If you could have had any other units for this specific army what would wish you had?

Anyway thanks Ibushi love the bat-reps!
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Offline Ibushi

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #42 on: September 15, 2015, 12:36:37 PM »
Thanks man. Yeah, they are bleeding tough.

Against Garry, we have played almost ten times with very similar lists now, so part of it is not being able to have any nasty surprises for him. In that kind of matchup necrons can have the advantage, as they can avoid the actual threats to their resilience more easily.

Against regular decurion, the destroyers do worry me because of their firepower, resilience, and speed. The destroyer-heavy player made a huge blunder by playing into the range of the Eldar first turn -- if the necrons kite around, it makes them unbelievably difficult to kill. Blocks of immortals and warriors I could care less though -- they are too slow to cause fear turn 1-2, and then you can charge a WK in there. Plus as they are not fearless, you can use leadership shenanigans against them.

Right now I basically have enough combat potential to take out decurions with just the WK, but with the added bodies of battle company, I really want to add in some more choppy power -- wraithblades is a pretty cool option, I have to say. Something to replace the current wraithscythes.

Dont think I will do a proper writeup for Game 5 -- basically I kept neck and neck with objectives, and smashed the vast majority of his army, but the dregs managed to get linebreaker and steal one of my objective cards on turns 4 and 5, giving him a 15-14 victory. It felt like the Eldar completely stomped all over the marines, and yet we lost somehow. The exact opposite of the necron game haha!! Great opponent and a good learning experience for sure.

Croneworld Eldar ended up taking Best Overall next to the Father of the Void (he opted to take Best Sportsman), and I won a whole table's worth of sweet terrain, which I am really excited about.

Next steps I am going to try out the Stormhost+Harliestar list for a bit, then the next big event is probably going to be TSHFT in January, so watch out for that.

Cheers
Ibushi
« Last Edit: September 15, 2015, 08:56:50 PM by Ibushi »
Check out my PLOG! Croneworld Koxinga Rises

Wet Coast GT 2015 Best Overall
TSHFT 08-15 3rd Place, Best Eldar
Guardian Cup 8.5 Best General
Attack-X Best Overall
WGWB 2015 Best Overall
Tanksgiving 2015 Best Overall

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Offline Ibushi

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Re: Croneworld Eldar GT Reports
« Reply #43 on: September 27, 2015, 01:51:50 AM »
OK team, just got back from another total riot of a tournament. It was a charity event, so people did not bring their hardest-hitting lists per se. Saying that, Game 1 was against an absolutely horrifying army, and on top of that two of the guys from the last GT brought their exact same loadouts -- so it was a mixed bag.

Originally I did a Stormhost+Harlequin list and practiced it a couple of time. It was absolute garbage and the TO laughed at me and said I was allowed to change my list last minute, so I did.

But the plan was for an Eldar assault army, that would work, even if I had to drop Storm Guardians.

I present to you the Warhost of the Falling Katana:

Farseer - jetbike, WARLORD
Farseer - jetbike

5 Rangers
3 Scatbikes
3 Scatbikes
3 Jetbikes

6 Swooping Hawks

Wraithknight - cannons + 1 laser

Bunker - void shield, escape hatch

Aspect Host:
8 Striking Scorpions + Exarch - claw
8 Warp Spiders + Exarch
4 Shining Spears + Exarch - lance

Cast of Players:
Shadowseer - ML2, Mask of Secrets
Death Jester
Troupe Leader - Caress
9 Players - 5 Caress

++


So Game 1 was against the ultimate renegades + daemons + chaos gunline barrage list from hell:

Renegade Detachment:
Ordnance Tyrant (like an IG character, with ability that lets ordnance weapons shoot friendly models..)
Mortar team

2x Wyvern

3x 26 plague zombies
4x thudd gun

Chaos Detachment:
2x ML3 Sorceror in terminator armour

2x 4 chosen with 4 flamers

2x Maulerfiends with lashing tendrils

Typhon Heavy Siege Tank (wounding Wraithknight on a 2.. also massive range if he doesnt move)

Void Relay Network: Void Shield Generator, Promethium Pipes

++

So basically, 2 wyverns + 4 quad mortars + 1 mortar + 1 giant siege cannon, most of which does not need LOS, can hit you on any level of a ruin, ignores cover, and wounds on a 2+/3+ and/or re-rolls to wound against my Eldar. At 4-5 foot range, so no possible way to out-range all of it, even if the artillery bunches up in a corner.

On top of that, you have a void shield generator preventing any shooting against wyverns, siege tank, sorcerors, or warlord, and then you have a promethium pipe giving garbage zombies 4+ cover, and giving the chosen 8 torrenting flamers, which can reach the centre of the table placed sideways, or ~4" shy of my DZ if placed straight-on. OK then. Let's see what Eldar can do.

First off, mission is maelstrom primary ( the one where you draw a card for each objective you control), killpoints secondary, and then tertiaries are first strike, warlord, and ground control. He wins the roll for table half and takes the one with 3 objectives natural, then wins the roll to deploy first. On the one hand I get to see if he makes any mistakes deploying, on the other he gets to go first and blow away all my models that are on the table. Pros and cons.

Before rolling psychic powers I realize the Ld across his army is generally very low, so I go full-on telepathy with the farseers, and manage to get invisibility twice. Nice. Harlequins get Veil and Psychic Shriek. For Warlord trait he goes with Tactical and rolls Master of Fate. Fortunately I picked up Master of Interference, which forces him to discard one tactical objective per game.

He sets up his gunline slightly weighted to my left, with the wyverns, warlord + sorceror+zombies, 2 thudd guns, and the siege tank under the void shield. On middle to right stretch are promethium pipes, chosen, maulerfiends, sorceror+zombies, 2 more thudd guns, and a mortar.

Terrain is sparse, with very little BLOS terrain, and there is nowhere that any of my squishy models can go on my side without being blown away first. After thinking for a while, I realize that the best thing to do is max out alternate-deployment shenanigans: the scorpions, shining spears, and rangers outflank, the hawks and spiders deep strike, while the farseers and jetbikes stay in reserves. The bunker goes down behind a ruin (yay cover save!), with the harlequins inside, and the wraithknight on top (hooray, personal void shield!).

I then roll for Seize and manage to take back the initiative on a 6! Booyah!

++  Turn 1

Shooting from the wraithknight is able to take down all three of his void shields. My objective was Domination (capture all objectives), so I discarded that :(

The zombies move forward (not sure why), while the Eldar warlord forces the renegade commander to forget his objective this turn. Shooting is uneventful as the siege cannon rolls a 1 to penetrate the void shield, and nothing else was S6 to hurt it. If the siege cannon had taken the shield down, I doubt the barrage weapons would have killed the wraithknight, but it would have hurt.

0-0

++  Turn 2

A lone Farseer comes in behind the bunker (one was attached to a unit, one was not), the harlequins bound forth from the bunker to assault the zombies straying too close down the left board edge, while shining spears glide over their heads to put lance shots into a wyvern in the renegade back left corner. On the far right edge, the swooping hawks come down to try and kill a mortar team, but their shots scatter and are ineffective. Warp Spiders also materialize, trying to take out some chosen with flamers, but they scatter backwards 11" and decide to just run away as much as possible. The Wraithknight also jumps forward to make threats for next turn, but decides better of charging a wyvern and getting too close to the maulerfiends -- those things are nasty!

Psychic powers sees the Harlequins successfully go invisible, and psychic shriek takes out a quad gun team in one go -- ouch!

Shining spears manage to blow the flamer off a wyvern, taking down some hull points but not quite killing it. The Wraithknight likewise does a bit of damage but fails to kill anything. Harlequins clip a zombie, but don't want to threaten their charge -- which they then make, and slaughter a healthy 15 or so plague zombies, locking them in combat for maybe 1 casualty. No victory points achieved though.

Renegades come back by pumping barrage shots into the shining spears, but a shot scatters back and manages to hit the friendly wyvern -- I roll a 6 and glance the tank to death in its own shooting phase! The siege cannon manages to miss the wraithknight with a bad scatter, and the thudd guns remove the swooping hawks entirely. Warp Spiders are able to flickerjump sneakily out of being shot, and also putting them out of range of being charged by a maulerfiend -- phew! The other maulerfiend does manage to charge the wraithknight, and they both damage each other a bit. Meanwhile, a unit of plagebearers is summoned into midfield.

The Harlequins slice up a couple more zombies then hit & run away, getting 10" and getting right into the face of the next zombie squad, with attached warlord and sorceror!

Still 0-0 though.

++ Turn 3

The Eldar Warlord joins the field with a scatbike bodyguard, and the cast invisibility on themselves to prevent suffering Slay the Warlord. Scorpions outflank to the left again, right behind the lone surviving shining spear exarch (and zombies). Rangers outflank to the far right, taking an objective for +1VP. Another jetbike unit comes on and turbo-boosts into the Renegade DZ to steal back an objective with obsec, for +1VP. Warp Spiders move up and take out the mortar team for +1KP, then jump away out of charge and torrent range.

On the left, psychic powers make the harlequins invisible again, while shriek is less effective against the sorceror, but shuriken weapons manage to bring the nasty terminator down after some hot rolling and terrible armour saves! Should have look out sir'd!

In assault, the shining spear exarch takes out two thudd gun crew, and runs them down for +1KP and +1VP (kill a unit in assault). In the middle the Wraithknight stomps out the maulerfiend, while deep in the Renegade DZ the Harlequins charge into the Warlord's unit and challenge, and the fool tries to hide! Fortunately, due to model placement, virtually all the attacks go on the Warlord, and he is eventually brought down from weight of attacks -- Slay the Warlord!

Renegades try to make a game of it, but at this point the aspect warriors and jetbikes have denied them many objectives, so they only draw 2 cards, and can only achieve one. Shooting goes into the scorpions, killing several but not enough, and the zombies charge in and are mostly wasted. On the other side, barrage weapons easily decimate the Rangers, but a single scout survives in cover, denying the KP. Combat sees more zombies die, but that's it.

3-1

++

After taking so long to set up our armies, read through all the relevant rules -- he had so many things I had never heard of! -- and play the first two turns, we ended up being flush out of time, and dice down was called!

Primary 3-1 to Eldar!
Secondary 6-1 to Eldar!
Tertiary +1 for Slay the Warlord!

Wow I thought my army was going to be totally ruined by the amount of shooting, specifically cover-ignoring, high-strength, shredding, barrage shooting, in this army!

If the game had continued, the freed up wraithknight would have ruined the second maulerfiend with D-shots and controlled mid-table, while the scorpions+spears+harlequins would have just torn up the renegade lines easily from one end, with the warp spiders coming from the other. 2 Farseers casting invisibilty and psychic shriek was also really nasty, as it allowed weak Eldar assault units to become really resilient all of a sudden. Will definitely consider double Telepathy again!

MVP goes to the Harlequins easily here, for shanking almost two full zombie squads, taking out one sorceror, and assassinating the Renegade Ordnance Tyrant, just as they should! With invisibility they barely took any casualties too, it was nasty.

Wooden Spoon goes to the swooping hawks again -- I just cant seem to get them right :(

Lesson Learned: outflanking shining spears is super good for popping tanks! The assault Aspect Host doesn't even really need WS5, I think I will just stick with BS5 for these guys next time around hah.

OK, on to Game 2!

++

Edited for stats/rules.  Please see forum rule 1 for details - Iris.



« Last Edit: September 29, 2015, 06:48:55 PM by Irisado »
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Offline Ibushi

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #44 on: September 30, 2015, 08:17:25 PM »
Up next -- Game 2 against Necrons (one of the same decurion players from last tournament).

For this event, the Necrons brought out some of the unusual toys, making for a very interesting matchup and fun game:

Imotekh the Stormlord!
another Necron Overlord character

2x 5 Immortal
5 Tomb Blades
5 Deathmarks
6 Wraiths

Doomsday Ark
2x Pylon (2 powerful artillery blast shots at scatbike range, but immobile)

C'Tan Formation -- C'tan Shard + 2 Crypteks (staff of light, veil of darkness)
This thing is super tough!

Mission is Tactical Escalation primary, plus Relic secondary. Tertiary is First Blood, King of the Hill and Slay the Warlord; DZ is Hammer and Anvil.

Again we put the objectives in each of the 4 corners of the map, then the 5th and 6th we are able to squeeze in between, so each DZ has three objectives in a jagged line. Relic is smack in the middle of course.

Eldar deploy first, Outflanking the Spears and Rangers, then placing the Bunker, with WK on top and harlies inside, smack on the edge of the DZ, facing down the Relic. Warlord Farseer+jetbikes and Warp Spiders hide behind the bunker, while two units of scatbikes + the other Farseer are in the far backfield on objectives, along with Hawks waiting to jump.

Necrons also basically just line up along the edge of the DZ, looking to make a run for the Relic with the C'tan unit, wraiths, immortals+Imotekh, and tomb blades. Doomsday Ark and two pylons park in the back, while Deathmarks deep strike.

Scorpions then infiltrate just in front of the bunker and in cover, a few inches short of the Relic.

Turn 1

Necrons fail to Seize, so the Eldar warlord jets forth to grab the Relic. We have a little discussion about whether the Relic is picked up at beginning or end of the movement phase, and we decided to play it that it is the beginning -- so this turn I cannot turbo and assault move away with it. Actually I think it's the other way around, but this made it more of a game. Wanting to protect the relic and warlord, the harlies pile out of the escape hatch and bubble out next to the scorpions. Warp Spiders roll a paltry '3' for warp jump and sit tight.

Psychic powers are remarkably effective (hah ancient nemesis will never be able to beat us on that one!), with invisibility successfully cast on both the harlequins and the warlord+jetbikes unit. A wound is put on the wraiths with shriek as well.

Shooting is able to take down another wraith or two, while the Wraithknight puts 2 HP on the Doomsday Ark and blows off one of its gauss arrays. Not stupendous, but first turn shooting against Necrons never is...

Necrons pick up Behind Enemy Lines for the maelstrom, so the tomb blades turbo boost into the Eldar DZ instead of shooting. Wraiths and the C'tan move directly for the Relic. Shooting basically does nothing, as the Necrons wasted a lot of firepower into the Scorpions getting a 2+ cover save, and other Eldar were either invisible or out of range.

The Wraiths are able to roll a healthy 10" charge on the Warlord Farseer to get around the harlequins (I left a gap, oh well), but only one can make it into contact with the jetbikes, and the rest charge the harlequins. C'Tan shard also charges the Harlequins. The Harlequins roll terribly and fail to do any damage, while one jetbike is killed -- the Eldar Warlord then flees, abandoning the Relic! What a coward!

The Harlequins then disengage and perform a hit & run into the Necron side of the field.

Turn 2

The Farseer rallies, and is able to cast Invisibility on the harlequins again. Scorpions line up to assault the wraiths, the Wraithknight jumps down to swing into the C'tan (wish he brought his D-sword!), and the harlequins swing around to charge the C'tan as well. The Swooping Hawks also land in midfield, dropping their grenades and flashing their lasers around to zero effect.

In the Eldar backfield, a Farseer and jetbike unit move up, shoot, and assault the Tomb Blades, killing two, but they hold. Rangers outflank on the other side of the DZ, taking an objective in cover.

Back on the Necron side of the field, Shining Spears outflank behind the Doomsday Ark, which chooses not to jink, and the Exarch puts a lance shot up its ass, destroying it. First Blood? nice!

Around the Relic, the scorpions unleash shuriken into the Wraiths, miraculously putting through 2-3 wounds! Scatbike shooting takes its toll also, bringing down several of the nasty creatures, and finally the scorpions charge and tear apart the lone survivor. The Harlequins and Wraithknight are somewhat less effective, not realizing just how tough the C'Tan unit is -- same toughness as the knight, with an invulnerable AND FnP save..and a stack load of wounds. The Harlequins basically flub, and the C'Tan and WK trade wounds. Cannot stomp as too many friendly models engaged.

Necrons fire back by deep striking the deathmarks in right next to the Warlord Farseer, but fortunately he had joined a fresh scatbike unit, and he survives after taking just one wound (but his squad dies). Immortals and pylon shooting do a number on the swooping hawks, slaying 5 after 3 amazing 6+ go to ground saves! Then Imotekh calls in the lightning storm and obliterates the last hawk, along with the entire Ranger squad, and does some wounds to the shining spears. Remaining shooting is unable to bring down the Shining Spear Exarch, with his nice jink save.

In combat the tomb blades and farseer slap each other some more, while in the middle the harlequins, wraithknight, and C'Tan combat drags on also. The C'Tan has about 3 wounds and 1 cryptek left, while the Wraithknight has about 4, and the harlequins have 1-2 casualties. The Harlies hit and run away to make a play for the Necron warlord possibly.

Turn 3

Having survived this far, the Eldar Warlord finds another jetbike squad for protection, and stays in the backfield. Warp Spiders jump backwards and shred the deathmarks. Scorpions just sit tight on the Relic for another turn, while the Harlequins decide to go after the Necron Warlord -- Imotekh!

Psychic powers make the Wraithknight invisible this time, while Shriek kills an immortal or two.

In the Necron backfield, the Shining Spear lances a pylon, easily destroying it with his high strength. Having cleared out that objective of robot enemies, he consolidates.

Harlequins charge into Imotekh and kill his squad, but fail to hurt the Overlord.

Back on the Eldar side, the Farseer brings down another Tomb Blade with his naginata, and they attempt to flee! This is exactly what the Eldar jetbikes were waiting for, and they massacre the remaining Necrontyr.

On the Relic, the Wraithknight is finally able to use his stomp attacks, and promptly rolls a 6 to remove the C'Tan. Bam!

Necrons are feeling pretty lacklustre at this point, and pour all remaining firepower into the scorpions and wraithknight on the Relic. With their cover save and re-rolls to morale, the Scorpions weather the storm, but not without losing half the squad by now. The Wraithknight is down to 2 wounds.

In combat, the Harlequins do a stack load of wounds to Imotekh, but fail to bring him down. He punches the Death Jester in the face, and the Harlies then hit & run away to try again.

Turn 4

At this point it is just a contest to see whether the Necrons can muster enough shots to bring down the WK, and whether the Harlies can push through enough wounds on the ultra-tough Necron Warlord to kill him -- and we are loving it!

The Shining Spear turbo-boosts across the Necron DZ to capture another objective, while the Harlequins charge in against Imotekh one more time! The push through 2 wounds, bringing him to his last wound, but are still unable to kill him with that infernal armour save, invulnerable save, and Reanimation Protocols!

The Necrons bring their remaining guns to bear once again, pouring artillery and gauss shots into the Scorpions and bringing them down to just the Exarch, who is still claiming the Relic. Probably should have Gone to Ground, but the image of the Scorpions standing there just taking the Necron barrage while claiming the objective was just too good to pass up! The Wraithknight also takes some big hits, but survives with 1 wound left -- just like the Eldar and Necron Warlords both.

Primary - 9-3 Eldar
Secondary - 1-0 Eldar
Tertiary - King of the Hill: Eldar

What an epic smashfest between the great ancient nemesis and the children of the stars!! Stars of the show is a tie between the scorpions and shining spears -- the scorps put a lot of punishment on the wraiths, bringing them down, and survived a bucketload of firepower to claim the Relic and King of the Hill! The sneaky Shining Spears took out 2/3rds of the Necron support firepower, and claimed 2 backfield objectives plus First Blood plus some maelstrom points to boot -- heroes!

Wooden Spoon -- Swooping Hawks :( admittedly this is not a good matchup for them, but oh well there it is again.

Lesson Learned: Necrons are freaking tough! In this list I had 5 caresses plus one on the troupe leader, but actually i think this number needs to be bumped up by 1 or 2. The Mask of Secrets is also not That useful for 15pts, making them Fearless certainly helps, but might try swapping it out for 2 more caresses (takes them to 8 of 10). Also the Shadowseer has a nasty blind grenade attack that I always forget, but it is really effective against Necrons for preventing overwatch. Did this to Imotekh both times he was charged.


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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #45 on: October 2, 2015, 07:17:56 AM »
Very nice Bat-reps Ibushi. The two lists you went up against are remarkably similar to lists I face all the time... and both are very difficult matchups, but your bat-reps prove the deciding factor is definitely close-combat!

I've said it again and again, but pulling units out of the shooting phase (particularly Necrons) is worth its absolute weight in gold.

The Scorpions really shined in both bat-reps good to see them doing work and taking the hits like champs.

The Spears continue to be an eye-opener. When used as a small harassing unit, thats not meant to survive for the whole game, I'm realizing how helpful they can be against light transports and just tangle up the back lines. 

Its funny you've had such bad luck with Hawks. Mine have been incredible in every game, and excel against Guard and Necrons. I usually drop them just within 24" of a particularly nasty 4+ armor unit on one of the flanks have them drop their bomb, pummel them with las fire and then battle focus out of LOS. The key is to keep them within range of only their target and perhaps one more unit if you can manage it. If they are within range of 3 units they tend to go down in flames when the opponent recognizes how much damage output they have against light to medium infantry.

Anyway my big take away from these bat-reps is the "disruption" factor. With outflanking, deepstriking, and infiltrating units all over the board, you are basically pulling your opponent in a number of different directions, forcing him to send only a small block of units towards the Wraithknight, Laserbikes etc. Basically he's attacking you in piece-meal which plays perfectly into the Eldar strengths.

Thats the downside to ye-old Serpent spam, and Jetbikes-spam. You are playing keep-away the entire game, trying to stay back the entire time allowing your opponent to really come at you. Of course there are strength in those units, but I really feel that strength is better capitalized on when you've got backfield disruption, and a handful of units dragging your opponents critical shooting units into a grinding CC via the Harlies/Scorps.

Anyway great bat-rep Ibushi really enjoy the material. Great concepts to think on. Keep up the great success!
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Offline Ibushi

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #46 on: October 2, 2015, 01:04:29 PM »
Cheers man, appreciate the synopsis of takeaways. I'm definitely of the school of thought that you need two combat elements. One of which needs to be really potent.   

Same with disruption, it really makes all the difference when paired with scatbikes, you are right. I'm trying to tweak my lists to have at least one outflanking element like the spears.

In the first game I thought the hawks would perform, but they just whiffed that first turn and then had nowhere to hide, otherwise I think they could have been ok. Game 2 I don't think they really had any viable shooting targets so I just threw them out there to distract away from my relic-holding scorps.

Next up I am going to try out this choppy disruption list against the Father of the Void assault necron list. That one is terrifying, and when you face raw power in the hands of a general, you need to have a very tight game plan where your disruption units are actual threats and can do work. Otherwise they just get wasted.

Likewise, I think the biggest weakness for Eldar is drop pod assault, and I'm not confident outflanking spears or infiltrating scorps will pull their weight in that matchup.

Thanks for the comments! Also I saw you updated your warp spider pictures, but the post doesn't seem to actually be there?!
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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #47 on: October 3, 2015, 07:30:18 AM »
Great stuff guys.

Ibushi, don't hesitate to include the Nightwing. I've been rocking mine for 2 years and its only died 3 times. Its been an all-star in my force. Its literally downed at least 20 flyers. It just eats up AV 10/11 and keeps everything else jinking. Its also great against side armor on ground targets as well. I wish there was a formation for them because I prefer them to Crimson Hunters.

As much as it pains me I'm including my D-Scythes again in my force. I've not used them since the new book came out, but against the type of armies I'm regularly facing its crazy not to. If its a no holds-barred environment where everyones bringing the best list they can, turn about is fair play.

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #48 on: October 4, 2015, 05:58:27 PM »
Yeah that's true with the d-scythes, fair's fair, but at the same time after several tournaments in a row playing them I find them really dull. Necessary but dull.

As far as the Nightwing goes, I am definitely a fan and have used it before to good effect, but generally speaking I would rather take the 7 warp spiders plus exarch instead in a tournament list. anti-air has never been an issue for my pointy ears thus far, and I don't think the meta has shifted in that direction, with the possible exception of heldrakes. But i would rather not put a nightwing up against a heldrake anyway, it is not the best matchup.

So yesterday I got to put in two practice games under ITC rules against my friend's donkey-punch dirty cousins with my tweaked choppy Eldar list. The tweaked list is:

Farseer Warlord on jetbike
Farseer on jetbike

8 Scorpions + Exarch with Claw

3x3 scatbikes
1x3 jetbikes
5 Rangers

3 Shining Spears + Exarch with Lance

Falcon - BL
Wraithknight - 2 lasers, 2 wraithcannons
Bunker - escape hatch, void shield

Aspect Host:
4 Dark Reapers + Exarch
7 Warp Spiders + Exarch
7 Warp Spiders + Exarch

The first game he put an Eldar CAD with void shield generator paired up with WWP succubus and WWP Dark Artisan formation for a donkey punch dirty cousins build looking for an autarch-led beta strike. The updated Choppy Eldar easily handled the void shield and shooty elements of his list, the wraithknights took each other out in combat (which was hilarious!), and the Dark Artisan was just too many points invested in little reward. Blowout victory to the choppy Eldar.

Game 2 he switched up his list for a nastier beta strike involving the Grotesquerie:

Eldar:
Autarch Warlord - mask & scorpion chainsword
2x3 scatbikes
2x1 hornets - pulse lasers
Wraithknight - wraithcannons, 1x laser
Aspect Host:
5 Fire Dragons
4 Dark Reapers
5 Warp Spiders

DE:
Succubus - glaive, armour of misery, WWP
5 Kabalites
Venom
Raider (for dragons)
Grotesquerie:
Haemonculus
3 Grotesques - Aberration - agonizer
Raider
3 Grotesques
Raider

For ITC technically he would need to roll the aspect host into the Eldar CAD to meet the 3 detachment limit, but we waived that for fun.
Basically he has enough shooting with variable deployment options to hit what he needs, with tough assault units in the grotesques, which also have a 12" -1 LD bubble, along with the 6" -2 LD bubble from the Succubus. So even without psykers there are some serious leadership risks!

We played ITC mission 2 -- Vanguard Strike, Purge the Alien, and ITC Maelstrom with Linebreaker, Ground Control, and Table Quarters.

Warlord Trait: we both rolled 3 enemy units take a pinning check, to no effect.
Psychic Powers: double Telepathy, with Shriek/Fortitude/Domination/Invis and Shriek/Terrify/Domination/Invis. Looking good!

Dirty Cousins give first turn to the Eldar to capitalize on maelstrom and beta strike options. Eldar castle up behind their bunker in midfield, with the wraithknight on the battlements, Falcon with Reapers behind, scatbikes scattered around, and the 2 farseers behind the Falcon. One unit of Warp Spiders deployed on the right flank, the other chose to deep strike, the Shining Spears outflank. Rangers infiltrated on the far right out of the way of everyone, and scorpions infiltrated inside the bunker, placing the escape hatch in mid-board beside an objective.

Dark Eldar choose to only deploy an empty venom in the corner of the board out of range, kabalites on the left behind LOS-blocking cover, and the wraithknight in the middle of their DZ. Warlord+Firedragons are deep striking in a raider, Succubus+Grotesques are coming through WWP, while the Haemonculus+Grotesques, Reapers, and 2x3 scatbikes are walking on. Both Hornets outflank.

Turn 1
Eldar move up and take centre objective for a maelstrom. Rangers and Scatbikes are able to kill all the Kabalites for a KP, and 1-2 wounds go on the WK after some hot FnP saves and two missed D-shots.

Dark Eldar wraithknight bounds forwards to either charge the warp spiders or rangers possibly, but the warp spiders flickerjump out of range, and he ends up failing the charge into the Rangers. Before he does so, he puts a single wraithcannon shot into the other Wraithknight and the Falcon -- wounding the former, and blowing up the latter! Venom turbo-boosts onto an objective for a maelstrom.

Turn 2
Warp Spiders drop in, lacing the WK with monofilament for a wound, the other warp spider squad moves up and adds another. The Dark Reapers blow up the Venom, and the Wraithknight puts 5 wounds on his evil counterpart to bring him down, as his failed charge meant he was out of cover, and D hits prevent any more hot FnP rolls.

Dark Eldar bounce back with a vengeance -- the Fire Dragons+Autarch land in mid-board, taking out a squad of scatbikes. The Grotesques+Succubus land beside the bunker and await their chance to assault. Grotesques in a raider come on in mid-field, preparing to be the second wave assault. A crucial blow! Scatbikes come on and take down a scatbike unit and wound another, the two survivors then jink to avoid disintegrator fire. A hornet comes on on the right and blasts the Dark Reapersl, taking down the void shield and killing two, who then fail their morale and run, oh noes!! Warp Spiders drop down next to the bunker and put shots into the jetbikes there, to no effect due to invisibility or something.

Still, a brutal turn from the DE! 2 scatbikes squads killed, the 3rd jinking and down to 2, with the reapers running and only snapfiring at best next turn (at least they're not dead!), while there are two raiders at point-blank range, one of which is full of grotesques ready to rumble!

Turn 3
This going to be a key turn for the Eldar forces, win or lose.

Wraithknight jumps between the two raiders, to charge either of the contents hopefully. Central warp spiders move up to blow up the Autarch Raider, the rightmost spiders get a good jump and move to kill the hornet. Scatbikes decide to snap fire rather than turbo-boosting out of the way, but then miss all their shots. Dark Reapers fortunately rally and fire into the grotesque raider, but miss. Shining Spears fail to come on, which was a bit tragic, but oh well. Scorpions unload from the Bunker to hopefully charge the grotesques and do some damage. Both Farseers join the regular jetbike unit and move backwards, attempting to shriek the warp spiders. We rule that as a witchfire attack this does trigger Flickerjump, and the sneaky buggers roll a 10 and get completely out of LOS. Farseers then roll for Invisibility and FAIL, and suddenly realize that because they both joined the same unit, they cannot attempt with the second Farseer! D'oh!
Instead they cast Mental Fortitude on the scorpions to keep them from running against the grotesques this round, to hopefully lock them in combat for one more turn.

In the Shooting phase, Eldar kick off with the Wraithknight splitting his shots between the two raiders -- wraithcannon misses, then misses again. Gah. Scatter lasers plink a HP here and there. Warp Spiders are then able to bring down the Autarch raider, who then fails his pinning check!! Nice! The other warp spider unit is also able to bring down the hornet which is a relief. Back in the middle, scorpions put pistol shots into the grotesque raider, failing to get any 6's. Likewise the scatbikes fail to hit on 8 dice, and the reapers miss their shots too. Damn! Feeling flustered, the Eldar warlord and jetbike unit then turbo-boost back onto the bunker as the void shield comes back up, hoping to survive one more round before bringing down his naginata to crush the foul enemy. Fortunately, over on the right side the unmolested rangers are able to rend out 2 scatbikes in the open (didn't jink!), who then fail their morale check and run straight off the board! Go Rangers!

In the Assault phase, the Scorpions and wraithknight decide to try and pull off a surround-and-destroy charge on the grotesque raider, but the scorpions only get a 7" charge, leaving a big enough gap for the grotesques to pile out. Might have been a better choice to go after the fire dragons+Autarch, but oh well. Meanwhile warp spiders jump out of harm's way, they believe.

Dark Eldar fire up their onslaught to the next level, with the grotesques+succubus moving around the fearless scorpions and instead training their drug-infused vision on the jetbike unit with attached Farseers -- oops! On the left flank the second hornet comes on, while the Reapers fail again to show up. In the middle, grotesques pile out of their raider and move towards the central warp spiders, lining up for a reasonable 7" charge -- crap!

Shooting sees the evil warp spiders and newly arrived hornet shooting into the wraithknight, taking two wounds. Scatbikes finish off the surviving Eldar scatbikes, and the Fire Dragons whiff their snap shots.

In assault, the Succubus unit take two wounds to overwatch, but make their 7" charge, while the Haemonculus+Grotesques make their 7" charge into the warp spiders as well, for no wounds. Oh dear. The Farseers put up a good fight, surviving the Succubus' glaive attacks and putting through 3 wounds and bringing down a grotesque. Unfortunately the jetbikes are maimed and destroyed, meaning the proud Croneworld seers have to take a morale check at -7, which they promptly fail, and are run down versus the Succubus' initiative 8. OUCH! What a brutal blunder.

Back on the other side, the grotesques pile on attacks but roll horribly, and only manage to kill 3 warp spiders -- who then hit & run away to resume their attack of the Dark Eldar Autarch. Phew, could have been worse!

Turn 4

The Shining Spears show up right next to the hornet on the left flank, and destroy it with lance shots -- the ensuing explosion then kills one spear, and the unit goes ahead and fails their morale check and run away! Gah, at least they took out the hornet..

The 2 remaining Reapers get back under the void shield on the bunker battlements, train their missiles on the enemy scatbike unit, and annihilate them. No more scatbikes to deal with. Meanwhile the Wraithknight moves up behind the reapers towards the succubus and grotesque, while the scorpions move out to assault the nearby warp spiders (7" charge, 8" if the frontrunner dies). Mid-board, the two warp spider units position themselves to rain instant death on the Dark Eldar Autarch and his Fire Dragon bodyguard.

Shooting puts a stackload of strength 6 wounds on the Autarch (closest model!), but the foul Warlord passes save after save after save, finally killing 1 Fire Dragon after 2 scatter lasers and about 11 warp spiders shooting at BS5. Damn!

Assault is much more effective, as the Wraithknight quickly obliterates the succubus+grotesque, consolidating 6" back around the Bunker towards the Autarch. Likewise the scorpions are able to brutalize the Warp Spiders, the Exarch tearing apart the Spider Exarch, and the last spider is run down.

At this point the Eldar forces consist of: 2 reapers, 2 shining spears (falling back!), 4 spiders in the middle, 7 spiders on the right, 4 rangers, Wraithknight at 4 wounds, 7 scorpions, and a bunker with void shield. Throwing away the two farseers was a HUGE mistake. On the E/DE side of things there remains: Autarch+4 Fire Dragons, 3 grotesques+haemonculus, 1 raider, and 4 reapers (in reserve). It is very close.

Dark Eldar hit back with a vengeance again, as the Reapers walk onto the board on the left side and quickly put 2 wounds on the Wraithknight (bringing him down to 2!). The Autarch+Fire Dragons had originally planned to assault a warp spider unit, but seeing the Wraithknight falter, they quickly Battle Focus backwards and are able to put through three wounds on the towering monstrosity -- two failed FnP rolls later, and he comes crashing down. A huge blow!

Meanwhile the grotesques move onto an objective, while the haemonculus splits off to claim a maelstrom point, putting the DE in the lead by 2.

Turn 5
Ouch, what a turn -- those reapers, the Autarch, and the fire dragons all need to go NOW!

Central Warp Spiders roll a blinding 17" warp jump followed by a 4" run to take out 2 reapers including the exarch. From the bunker the surviving reapers send starswarm missiles arcing forth, slaying the remaining reapers without a pause. Phew, target 1 down.

Warp Spiders and scorpions move up in the middle to put wounds on the Autarch again. Warp Spiders and Rangers pour shots into the dragons, failing to kill any! What?! Scorpions then open up with their pistols (Autarch was closest model, so unless he lets his warlord die, he wouldn't put himself out of charge range, about 9"). Wounded the Autarch twice, then roll a 10" for charge (with re-roll, so grateful for Fleet!), engaging the scumbags. Exarch claw attacks are all saved by the Autarch, gah. Mandiblaster shots all fail to wound. Chainsword his claim another two fire dragons, for one in return -- Fire Dragons hold.

On the left the Shining Spears regroup, but cannot do anything just yet.

Dark Eldar turn 5 means he has to spread out to claim multiple objectives and table quarters as well as Linebreaker to potentially win it.

Lone surviving Raider moves and turbo-boosts into the Eldar DZ. Grotesques move up to charge the scorpions, while the haemonculus splits off to claim an objective. No shooting this turn!

In assault, the Autarch is brought down by the Exarch's mandiblaster shot -- take that, sucka! The Exarch's claw attacks then ravage the Fire Dragons, bringing them ALL down. Scorpion hits go into the Grotesques, but pretty ineffectually, and the Grotesques hit back doing a truckload of wounds on the scorpions -- the Exarch survives with one wound, but then he breaks and runs away without being caught. What a great combat! That Exarch is a baller!

GAME CONTINUES!

Turn 6
Shining Spear Exarch turbo-boosts into the DE DZ for Linebreaker while the Warp Spiders circle back to put shots into the grotesques while staying at max range.

Reapers take out the DE Raider to deny linebreaker, while the warp spiders basically bounce off the grotesques.

DE are down to just the grotesques and haemy at this point, and they spread out to get linebreaker and ground control -- if the game ends now, Eldar have Primary for 4pts, DE have Secondary for 4pts, both have Linebreaker for 1, Eldar have Table Quarters for 1, and DE have Ground Control for 1 -- for a TIE!

WHAT AN EPIC BATTLE!

The game continues...Warp Spiders kill the heamonculus, and the DE are now unable to get Ground Control, giving Eldar the victory 6-5.

Moral victory goes to the Grotesquerie for just ruining the Croneworld Eldar in ways they have seldom been ruined, in particular that brutal charge into the Farseers, and taking out the Wraithknight so clinically with angles from all across the board.

MVP is a bit tricky, as several units really pulled their weight despite tough losses. The Reapers really came through in this game, putting wounds on the WK, killing a unit of scatbikes, the enemy reapers, a raider, and generally removing options from the enemy's hand. Also this was probably the best game I have ever had with Rangers -- they used shuriken pistols with Battle Focus to great effect in the early game, then later they sniped out and removed a scatbike unit which was clutch, and after that they put a glancing hit on the rear armour of a raider -- pretty nice! Plus the main thing was they were unkillable and annoying away in the corner, claiming that table quarter forever.

Headhunter goes to the Scorpion Exarch who was a total BOSS -- he decapitated the Warp Spider Exarch as well as the Fire Dragon Exarch, and then took down the enemy Autarch Warlord with a well-timed mandiblaster shot to the nuts, and not to forget killing the Grotesque Raider. What a puncher!

Wooden Spoon: You're thinking the Shining Spears, but actually they killed a Hornet and helped win the game by getting Linebreaker, so that was 95pts well spent in my books! Wooden Spoon would have to go to the Farseers for their derpy psychic phases followed by being horribly run down by grotesques in turn 3. Really that was my fault, but ouch what a brutal hit.

After this game, my friend and opponent realized that the Grotesquerie is a great formation due to the threat overload and diffusion of high-toughness, high-damage-output units, combined with nasty leadership de-buffs. They really work well alongside an aspect host or Eldar CAD, but right now his army has a bit less staying power than the choppy Eldar, which showed.

Using the shielded bunker with escape hatch over a void shield generator has been a lot of fun, I have enjoyed it much more than the regular shields and might try it out for the next big event. We shall see!

Cheers
Ibushi
« Last Edit: October 4, 2015, 06:01:57 PM by Ibushi »
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Offline colinsherlow

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #49 on: October 4, 2015, 07:49:32 PM »
That sure was a fun game!

Wish I could roll saves like that at tournaments ;-)

I've made some tweaks to my list. Should hopefully hold out a little better next time.

Soon iwe will have a sweet sweet rematch... Or 10!

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #50 on: October 5, 2015, 07:19:21 AM »
Great bat-rep Ibushi. Wow what a gutty performance from the Dark Eldar. The Grotesques/Grotesquerie is absolutely nasty. Really liked your opponents list.

Your list was excellent as well. Awesome to see the Scorpion Exarch rolling like a damn boss. Seriously the Scorpion Exarch is like a baby HQ. He's so damn good.

Well played on both your parts. While Dark Eldar took a punch to the gut in terms of how many units fell of the map in terms of viable competitiveness, there good units are very good and have surprising punch/volume of dice and shouldn't be under-estimated.

Grotesques would look good in your list BTW.

Also just out of curiosity... how much terrain do you guys play on? It seems like you've got a decent mix, I'm just trying to judge it against how much I usually play with. Anyway thanks for the bat-rep, as always I really enjoyed it. Lots of interesting match-ups in this one in particular, thanks!
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Offline Ibushi

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #51 on: October 5, 2015, 12:35:13 PM »
It certainly was a fantastic game, down to the last few dice rolls and inches. First time I have played against Eldar in a really really long time too -- glad I know all their tricks already! I think if the donkey punch cousins were not something I was familiar with, it would hit that much harder and be that much more difficult to respond to. Look forward to the rematch!

Cheers Cav, I agree the lists are pretty fun but also brutal! Last tournament my Exarch also performed pretty well, but this was easily his best showing, and boy what a performance! It was a bit sad never being able to take advantage of Stalker for extra attacks, but I'll take it.

I'm really looking forward to when Colin gets his grotesque models finished and painted up (as well as repainting those hornets!), as it will be very a striking and very effective army at that point.

In terms of terrain this game was pretty light, nothing major to block LOS really, but the GW we play at is just a bit like that, and in general I like to play on more sparse tables for practice games, as it helps you prepare for the worst in tournaments. In a 5 game tournament you are guaranteed to get at least one table with sub-par terrain, or the DZ with zero BLOS terrain, so I like to know how to deal with that. On the flipside, if you are used to playing "killing field" style, and you get a table with terrain features -- party party for the Eldar!

Next up we have a little RTT this weekend, so will be busting out the Croneworlders for one last bash this 2015 -- looking forward to it! Not sure exactly how I'll change the list for then, but I'm leaning towards dropping back to a single Farseer and maybe picking up an Autarch. Also I really detest the wraithcannon version of the Wraithknight, but I'm going to stick with it until he faces Battle Company, because I think it will be worth it then.

Cheers
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Offline Ibushi

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #52 on: October 12, 2015, 07:30:28 PM »
Alright team, got back from the RTT, was a total blast as usual.

List to beat was the Battle Company that got the better of my Eldar two events ago:

Commander - power fist, bolter
command squad (5) - 5 meltas, Drop Pod
3x 5 tacticals - melta, combi-melta, Drop Pod
5 assault marines - 2 flamers, Drop Pod
5 devastators - 2 grav cannons, Drop Pod

Chaplain - crozius, bolter
3x 5 Tacticals - plasma gun or heavy bolter, Rhino
5 assault marines - 2 flamers, Rhino
5 devastators - 2 lascannon, Razorback

3x5 scouts - bolters

Allied IG
Command Squad - 2 melta, Chimera
Veterans - 2 melta, Chimera
Wyvern Battery (2)

Last time these guys beat the Croneworld Eldar on Spoils of War by 1 VP, it was very close. Main lesson was to be more aggressive, as they really don't deal that much damage (aside from the wyverns, argh!), and also to refit the wraithknight with guns instead of a sword, to deal with all the tanks and multiple targets. A second change was to focus on Telepathy with the Farseer, ignoring Invisibility but going for Shrouded, Shriek, and Dominate if possible -- the Battle Co. is mostly lower leadership, so can be taken advantage of.

OK, so the list I actually took was:

Farseer - jetbike, spear for rhinos, WARLORD

5 wraithguard - d-scythes
Wave Serpent - Bright lance for Rhinos, Holo-Fields

3x3 scatbikes
2x3 jetbikes
5 rangers for anti-infiltrate & outflank shenanigans

Falcon - bright lance + pulse laser for drop pods
Wraithknight - wraithcannons, scatter laser
Void Shield Generator (3)

Aspect Host:
7 Warp Spiders + Exarch
7 Warp Spiders + Exarch
4 Dark Reapers + Exarch - EML

So Game 1 ended up being against my friend and chauffeur Father of the Void with his assault necrons. Unfortunately for him the Eldar managed to roll Invisibility + Shrouded, then got Master of Ambush as well as First Turn, and Imotekh failed to Seize.

2 turns of Ballistic Skill Eldar, Strength Monofilament wire later, the Necrons were down to just 5 immortals and a Night Scythe. Poor Ancient Nemesis never stood a chance.

Game 2 was against the Steel Host, 7 Leman Russes, a Hydra, and an Imperial Knight.

2 turns of invisible, void shielded Wraithknight and deep striking warp spiders later, there was just the hydra. Poor metal boxes never stood a chance.

Game 3 is back on Table 1 against the Battle Co as expected, playing ITC mission 4 -- the Scouring + Maelstrom secondary; tertiaries are Linebreaker, Warlord, and Big Game Hunter. DZ is Hammer and Anvil, thankfully -- helps funnel the boys in blue, and gives a range advantage against those awful wyverns.

Farseer rolls up Dominate, Terrify, Shrouding, and gets Shriek too for Focus. Just as planned so far! Then for Warlord he rolls up Conqueror of Cities on a ruins-heavy board -- fantastic! The biggest bonus is actually Move Through Cover for all the jetbikes and skimmers, but I'll take Stealth as well, tanks very much!

Eldar win the roll for First Turn and strategically pass it over to Battle Co so that the objectives can be cleared out each game turn.

Deployment is pretty standard, the Battle Co hug cover and set up a little firebase with lascannons on the right, guarded by chimeras and screened by rhinos and razors. Wyverns take hard cover on the left (you can just see their guns poking out):


Eldar put the VSG right in the middle of the DZ, 49" from the wyverns. Jetbikes spread out on the right, warp spiders bubble out to front and right, serpent goes on the left, falcon behind, farseer smack in the middle. Opponent is not a fan of the wraithknight sitting on top of the void shield generator, so he goes on top of a ruin on the front-right instead.

Eldar elect not to seize, so the marines get the party started. I'll save my breath and tell you right now that we both rolled "destroy an enemy unit" and "capture objective X" every single turn for our 2 maelstrom points.

Command squad and two tactical squads come thundering down in their pods to land on objective 3 and danger close to the wraithguard serpent. With a 3+ jink with stealth, the 7th melta shot sneaks through, at which point the serpent shield duly fails its almighty roll, and the metla-toter rolls a 5 to blow the graceful skimmer sky high where it belongs. No casualties from the explosion. Last tactical squad and the drop pods send some melta-bolter shots into the warp spiders, killing 1 and wounding the exarch. Lascannons from backfield take down a single void shield.

Here you can the Eldar deployment, infiltrating scouts, and deploying pods at top of Turn 1:


Eldar bounce back with a vengeance, the Farseer quickly exploding the minds of 3 tactical marines before they could reload. The Wraithguard pick their d-scythes out of the wreckage of their ride, and send 6 marines and a drop pod into another plane of existence. Wrap Spiders bounce forward and dispatch the last two marines this side of the field.

Scatbikes, reapers, and the falcon position to put shots downrange into infiltrating scouts and transports moving up, to knock the boys in blue off any midfield objectives. Three tanks take damage but do not die, while 4 scouts are taken down on the right. Falcon whiffed all his shots like a chump. Meanwhile the Wraithknight jumps towards mid-board, taking up a massive presence and exiting the void shield.







Maelstrom 2-2

Turn 2 and the battle company have two more pods come in, one lands in a small gap next to the void shield and trains its 2 flamers on the Eldar Warlord -- gulp. The other lands mid-board on objective 2, with the melta marines jumping out to blast the wraithknight. On the left side, a rhino moves up to secure the other objective 2 alongside the scouts. So now there is a vehicle, 5 marines + scouts on both objective 2s.



Shooting takes 2 wounds off the towering wraith construct, and the flamers instead foolishly decide to target the warp spiders, who easily warp jump out of range and take no damage.

Eldar reposition on their laser steeds, while the two warp spider units start moving up to take control of both objective 2s. Farseer Tanaka the Cannibal again unleashes his mind on the hapless marines, felling several, and the shuriken catapults of his jetbike retinue take care of the rest. This turn the Falcon unleashes its pent-up laser energy, hitting and penetrating the rhino on objective 2 no less than 3 times, sending the metal box soaring, slaying an unholy 4 scouts and 3 warp spiders in the explosion, hah! Those sneaky jumper aspects then take care of the tactical marines, while on the right side their brothers take down 4 of the melta marines also. Reapers put missiles into a backfield razorback, killing it, while laserbikes take down a rhino, spilling out the marines inside.

On the Marine side of the table, the Eldar Rangers come outflanking in on the right, weaving between three transports to put a pointed shoe on their objective 3 -- so long as the wraithguard backfield can take out the two drop pods, both objective 3s will be clear of Imperial control, denying them the Maelstrom point. As expected, the d-flamers ruin both pods easily. Meanwhile, the wraithknight crosses into Imperial territory, targeting the wyverns in cover with his wraithcannons, scoring two penetrating hits, neither of which are saved despite obscurement, and both of which result in titanic explosions -- ouch! Losing both Wyverns in one round is a sore injury.

Forgot to get a picture of the heroic Rangers, but you can see what happened to the left flank:


And here is the Eldar firebase, with LOS to several metal boxes:


Maelstrom 4-3 Eldar

Turn 3 and the outflanking scouts turn up, coming on behind the scatbikes to try and reduce their firepower, but to no avail as they roll horribly for shooting. Hoping to move up on the objectives and linebreaker somewhat, a Chimera starts trekking up the right hand side of the board towards the laser enclave, while the rhinos backfield disgorge their marines to take care of the Rangers, which they do. Lascannons and heavy bolters tear into the wraithknight, but to no avail this round.



Eldar continue the offensive, sending both warp spider units up to keep clearing out objective 2 on either side, while the Wraithknight bounds forwards to perch on a wrecked razorback, staring down the Space Marine Commander in his Rhino.



Backfield, the scatbikes start moving up to put more shots downrange, but in an effort to deny objective 2 they mostly target the drop pod sitting there -- but it lives on with 1 HP remaining. The commander's rhino also stubbornly refuses to die with 1 HP left, but the scouts are eliminated to a man with psychic shriek and accurate laser shooting. As the drop pod is unable to be eliminated, the Warlord's jetbike retinue turbo-boosts forth to contest objective 2, denying it to the Imperials once more.



Maelstrom 6-4 Eldar

Turn 4 and finally the Grav Cannon Devastators arrive! With the Wraithknight speeding towards their commander, the devastators land in the Imperial backfield and train their graviton weapons on the beast, along with the lascannons, heavy bolters, and melta guns in the blue DZ. After volley after volley of firepower, the Wraithknight is still standing with 1 wound remaining, despite not having a cover save this turn. In a last ditch attempt, the Chimera turns its turret and trains its lacklustre multilaser on the menace, scoring a wound. Picking up the dice, it comes down a 2 for amour save, and then a 4 for Feel No Pain -- the Wraithknight comes crashing down, saving the Imperial Warlord, scoring Big Game Hunter, 2 bonus points towards the maelstrom, and preventing an easy Linebreaker -- wow the Battle Company is still in this to win it! Back in the Eldar DZ, the other Chimera moves closer, and trains its multilaser through a window and the laserbikes, slaying one and forcing them to fall back after a failed morale check! My goodness, the Imperial Guardsmen are the true heroes here!





Eldar reel from the hefty loss, but only for a moment, as they quickly seek to reassert dominance over the battlefield. Tanaka the Cannibal moves up and spears his naginata through the side armour of a nearing chimera, destroying it and pinning the guardsmen for a turn, those cowardly mon-keigh.

Warp Spiders continue their advance, on the left they take down two marines in the commander's unit before bouncing behind cover, while on the right the last bolter-toter and his drop pod are both destroyed at last, clearing out objective 2 decisively. The remaining scatbike unit focuses on the lascannon devastators, taking out 3 but leaving the 2 lascannons unfazed. Back on objective 2, the jetbikes from last turn move forward to keep one of them out of LOS for next turn, ready for a run on linebreaker or objective 3 in the enemy DZ. By once more denying the boys in blue their objective 2, the Eldar manage to retain a lead in maelstrom:




Maelstrom 8-7 Eldar  (5 + 2 bonus for killing Gargantuan Lord of War for Imperials)

Turn 5 and the game has only ten minutes left to go! This will be the decider. Right now both armies control their objective 3 and objective 1 in their respective backfields, while both objective 2s in midfield are open. The marines just need to tie maelstrom and tie on objectives to win the match, which means putting bodies on objective 2, and scoring +2 maelstrom (kill a unit, control an objective). Sounds doable!

The marines move up as much as possible, putting all the firepower possible into the single jetbike squad hiding beside objective 2 -- fortunately most of the army can only see 1 model, which dies, and the lone survivor passes his morale check! Imperials fail to kill a unit. Meanwhile a rhino passes its Dangerous Terrain to drive up a level and get next to Objective 2, controlling it for the Imperials. If the game ends right now, Maelstrom is Eldar, Primary is Imperials, Tertiary is Imperials.

Here you can see the 2 white jetbikers trying to get out of LOS -- one of them succeeds. After this picture was taken, the rhino below them to their left moves and flat-outs onto the wall next to them.


Eldar Turn 5 -- jetbikes just need to boost into the imperial DZ for Linebreaker, everything else shoots the rhino up its exposed, elevated ass, while the warp spiders jump back to objective 2 for the win.

I decide to start with the warp spiders warp jump and pick up the dice, rolling a 3" - so a 9" jump, just enough. Right after I roll, the TO shouts "DICE DOWN!" and we are over. I go to pick up the warp spiders to finish the move, and we have a little argument about whether that's legal as time had definitely been called already. My point is that the Imperials got a whole turn 5, the Eldar just need to finish this one movement, and all the dice necessary have been rolled already. Obviously the Imperials feel like the game should finish exactly at this moment, so we call the TO over and he rules that the warp jump is allowed to be completed -- BAM! Eldar tie primary by claiming the other objective 2, Eldar eke out +1 Maelstrom for claiming an objective this turn (thank goodness it wasn't 2x kill a unit this turn!), and it is an Eldar Victory 4-1!

Lesson Learned - Battle Company just do not put out a lot of damage if you force their options and take the fight to them. Splitting fire with the Wraithknight and letting him eat up damage to die was a good strategy, while focusing on Telepathy and rocking out those powers worked really well too. The other huge thing was taking 2x warp spiders over 1x spiders + 1x dragons. Totally worth it.

MVP: Warp Spiders! They were just all over the place, controlling board space, tanking shots, providing options, and dealing lots of death.
Also the rangers were key in outflanking at the right moment to snatch back an objective and win the Maelstrom for Eldar. Go Rangers!

Runner up MVPs would be the wraithknight for smashing his way through several tanks while soaking up the entirety of the enemy's firepower, and the Farseer for shrieking so many marines off the board, plus putting his spear right through the Chimera and pinning that squad. All of these were key moments, allowing the scatter lasers to focus on other things.

Wooden Spoon -- surprisingly the Dark Reapers! They just shot at obscured tanks, and while they get a lot of hits, not having AP 1-2 for the explosions really hurt. Chipping down Drop Pods 1 HP at a time is a pain, glad the Falcon was there to blow things up!

At this point I don't have any strong urges to tweak this tournament list any further. I thought about picking up an Autarch or a second Farseer, but to be honest in all of the hardcore games of late, one Farseer has really done the trick. An Autarch would be great, but it would cost the Falcon or a Scatbike squad, which are too useful already. 2 warp spider squads was just vicious this tournament, so I will be sticking with that for now too.

Next steps I will tweak my assault aspect list a bit further -- they are actually really powerful apparently, as I got a game in against two of my friends' tournament lists and managed to take them both out. Hooray for assault Eldar!

This was the last big event for me this year, until TSHFT next January in Seattle again, but look forward to some more painting and tweaking before then, and then we'll see how the pointy ears respond to the new Tau!! If there is going to be more emphasis on cover saves from those guys, maybe I will squeeze another farseer in for perfect timing -- that would ruin everyone's day. Or just get the assault Eldar ready for a high-level tournament and shove a katana up their .. never mind.

Cheers
Ibushi
« Last Edit: October 14, 2015, 07:02:27 PM by Ibushi »
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Offline Cavalier

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #53 on: October 13, 2015, 08:44:46 AM »
Fantastic bat-rep Ibushi. So informative, especially for me with a big game against battle-company looming this saturday. I love your list construction and running something somewhat similar. Love the double warp spiders, the bike mix and inclusion of Rangers in your list. They can be so handy, especially holding things down when you have a lot in Reserves.

So quick question... For around 50 points more than your Wave Serpent you could have a bare bones Archon with WWP, and 5 Kabalite Warriors. As Irisado always used to say a single Wave Serpent is an easy target (especially if you are facing 8 million las-cannon Razorbacks in a battle-company). But despite this do you prefer the armor, as opposed to the precision strike?

BTW I take it you live on the West Coat. Lucky! The West Coast is the freaking Shangri-La of 40k tournaments. The scene here on the southern east coast is brutally sparse. I'm jealous!

Anyway great stuff Ibushi, keep it up with reports I'll be reading and rooting for ya
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Offline Ibushi

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Re: GT list to think on
« Reply #54 on: October 13, 2015, 11:30:06 AM »
It's true, I am very lucky, haha! Although I am in Canada which is a bit more 40k sparse than south of the border, but it's still pretty good.

Agreed on the rangers, and they can be a fantastic annoying little bait unit. In this game I had specifically planned to outflank to deny the imperials an objective, and placed their marker as such. Looking forward to more games with these guys.

Regarding the WWP vs wave serpent thre are a few huge huge differences between them that I would never forsake:

1. Wave serpents are tough and fast, and I only need it to live for 1-2 turns and we are good. This is usually not a problem, especially with shrouding or invisibility, not to mention the void shield.

2. I WANT you to shoot my serpent, especially if you are dropping in, as everything else except the Wraithknight will die 10x faster. It is very efficient for me in terms of reesilience.

3. Turn 1 my trusty serpent can be there, versus the speedy thundercav or drop pods etc.   

4. The wave serpent takes up a big chunk of space on the table to deny drop pod landing and prevent dudes getting inside the void shield. It can also tank shock, which is one of the most useful tactical tools in the game at times, clearing off objectives and the like. But screening is a big use for it.

5. And of course the guns -- TL is great for plinking away even after jink, and the shield just ruins certain units like venomthropes.

Overall I would have to really restructure how I play to do a WWP version, but I really prefer to have my heavy hitters start on the table turn 1.
Especially with master of ambush or conqueror of cites, you can make that serpent into a real menace!

Last but not least, I made mine out of a falcon with cardboard and green stuff when I was 12 years old, been playing it in almost every Eldar list ever since!

Please do send me your list, would be fun to tweak and analyze!

Cheers

* Just updated the batrep versus Battle Company with pictures!

Cheers

Double 'bump' post merged.  Please see forum rule 4g for details - Iris.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2015, 05:14:45 AM by Irisado »
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