News: No news is good news...

Login  |  Register

Author Topic: 2000pts Ulthwe Rapid Strike Force - List Building Competition  (Read 1211 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline funkyfellow

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Country: 00
2000pts Ulthwe Rapid Strike Force - List Building Competition
« on: September 14, 2017, 04:24:35 AM »
Hi all! I have been mulling over starting up an Ulthwe army since 8th edition dropped and after deciding to pay a visit to my old lurking grounds I saw Volatilegaz's post for an Ulthwe list building competition, so here is my attempt!

I have based this force around the concept of Eldrad forming a rapid response force of Black Guardians that can mobilize at a moments notice and quickly enter the webway for some lightning fast meddling! Eldrad has decided to deploy his seer council throughout the force to act as psycic beacons for him to observe and direct the flow of battle, he also has his granddaughter Autarch Velinthras as a tactical adviser and field leader for the jetbike teams.


Supreme Command Detachment

Eldrad Ulthran - Warlord [180pts]
Warlock - Singing Spear, Enhance/Drain [44pts]
Warlock - Singing Spear, Conceal/Reveal [44pts]

Battalion Detachment

Warlock - Witchblade, Conceal/Reveal [37pts]
Warlock - Witchblade, Embolden/Horrify [37pts]
8 Storm Guardians - 4 Chainswords, 2 Power Swords, 2 Fusion Guns[102pts]
10 Guardian Defenders - Shuriken Cannon [97pts]
10 Guardian Defenders - Shuriken Cannon [97pts]
Wave Sperpent - Twin Brightlance, Shuriken Cannon, Crystal Targeting Matrix, Spirit Stones [174pts]
Wave Sperpent - Twin Brightlance, Shuriken Cannon, Crystal Targeting Matrix, Spirit Stones [174pts]
Wave Sperpent - Twin Brightlance, Shuriken Cannon, Crystal Targeting Matrix, Spirit Stones [174pts]

Outrider Detachment

Autarch Skyrunner - Banshee Mask, Laser Lance, Fusion Gun [138pts]
6 Windriders - 6 Skuriken Cannons [192pts]
6 Windriders - 6 Skuriken Cannons [192pts]
3 Vypers - 3 Star Cannons, 3 Shuriken Cannons [318pts]

Total Points - 2000
Command Points - 8


Strategy:

Eldrad and the 2 singing spear Warlocks ride with the Storm Guardians in a Wave Serpent and the other 2 Warlocks go with each Guardian Defender squad in a Wave Serpent. The Guardian units and Wave Serpents work together as a sort of mobile anvil while the jet bikes and Vypers perform the hammer role. The force can use its extreme maneuverability to launch attacks from an advantageous position, attempting to isolate a portion of your opponents army before summarily destroying it in a hail of shuriken and laser fire in a denied flank strategy.

The Autarch should be able to go toe to toe with most things, especially with the aid of pysker powers and can act as handy tool box unit in addition to buffing the surrounding units with her command aura, ideally you will keep the jet bikes and Vypers near her most of the time to benefit from the aura, only committing her to an assault on vulnerable targets, to aid other assaulting units, or to protect other units from being assaulted.

I chose to give the Vypers starcannons despite the recent nerf to their damage value, they along with the Autarch are the best source for dealing with elite multi-wound units in this list. The Vypers make an excellent candidate for Eldrads Guide and Fortune powers.

The Wind Riders have a devastating amount of fire power against most targets, if both units go after the same target that has had doom cast on it, you can be sure it will be going down.

The Guardian units and psykers should try and stay close to one another so that they can all benefit from the Warlock powers and support each other. The Storm Guardians, Warlocks, and Eldrad will assault targets that get too close to the Defenders. The fusion guns and singing spears will also be handy for dealing with any vehicles/monsters that get too close to the Defenders. The Defenders themselves serve the role of basic line troops capturing objectives and putting mass light shooting on the board.

The Wave Serpents are the primary long range anti-tank/monster in the list. They may also assault units to stop them from over watching the Characters and the Storm Guardians or to block an assault on the Guardian Defenders.

Conclusion:

The force dips its toes slightly into Saim-hann's waters, but I feel they would have a lot more jet bikes and less foot based guardians, as well as some flyers and more jet bike characters compared to this list. Overall I really like this style of army and and reminds me of my list from 4th edition/5th edition, the only change I would consider is replacing the Vyper's with Hornets if there wasn't a limitation on forge world units from the list building competition.

Cheers!
« Last Edit: September 14, 2017, 08:40:58 PM by funkyfellow »

Offline Fenris

  • Aspect Warrior
  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2169
  • Country: se
  • Armies: Eldar, Dark Eldar, Aeldari
Re: 2000pts Ulthwe Rapid Strike Force - List Building Competition
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2017, 02:45:25 AM »
Very interesting list, I'm not so sure about the vypers though, seems like lot of points and with the errata on the star cannon it does not really seem worthwhile.

Perhaps one of the flyers or shining spears, I know it should be Ulthwé so depends how pure Ulthwé you want to go.
Have you considered mounting 1 or 2 warlocks on a skyrunner?

A Hemlock could take the place o 1 warlock + 1 vyper?
Ego in propria persona, non compos mentis.

Offline funkyfellow

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 73
  • Country: 00
Re: 2000pts Ulthwe Rapid Strike Force - List Building Competition
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2017, 08:58:27 PM »
Very interesting list, I'm not so sure about the vypers though, seems like lot of points and with the errata on the star cannon it does not really seem worthwhile.

Perhaps one of the flyers or shining spears, I know it should be Ulthwé so depends how pure Ulthwé you want to go.
Have you considered mounting 1 or 2 warlocks on a skyrunner?

A Hemlock could take the place o 1 warlock + 1 vyper?

I can understand the hesitation about the Vypers. They are there primarily for fluff reasons, I feel a Ulthwe force would usually include at least one squadron of either Vypers, War Walkers, Wasps, Hornets, Or Vauls Wrath Support Batteries. Vypers best fit the theme of this particular list considering Hornets are unavailable.

But honestly they are not  that terrible. A squadron of 3 has a large amount of wounds on top of a decent armour save, high toughness value, and they don't degrade after taking damage they can be surprisingly resilient and their speed and model size can make it pretty easy to benefit from cover as well. They make a great target for a Farseer's psycic powers which are most efficient on high value units.

While the Star Cannon may not be the most efficient Eldar heavy weapon it fills an important role in this particular list by being my main answer to units such as Terminators that have 2 wounds and a high armour save. They can also take advantage of their increased move speed from being in a 3 man squadron to get into a position where they can discharge the Star Cannon into a character, which when combined with buffs from the army should 1 hit KO most infantry level characters. I have been using a squadron of star cannon Vypers on and off since 4th edition despite their bad reputation, when marine players hear the stats of the Star Cannon it tends to cloud their vision and they try and protect their expensive elite units from them and throw a inordinate amount of fire power their way, through positioning and buffs you can exploit this to give the rest of you army some breathing room.

I originally was playing around with Warlock Skyrunners but they are just so expensive for what you actually get so I went with the Autarch Skyrunner instead. The other Warlocks are present for both fluff reasons, buffing the infantry, and unlocking more command points by filling out the hq slots for more detachments
« Last Edit: September 15, 2017, 09:28:57 PM by funkyfellow »

 


Powered by EzPortal